A coast guard captain on a small Greek island is suddenly charged with saving thousands of refugees from drowning at sea.<br />But now Greece is facing a new crisis, one that threatens to undo years of stability, as we struggle<br />to absorb the thousands of desperate migrants who pour across our borders every day.<br />The turquoise sea that surrounds the beautiful Greek island of Lesbos, just 4.1 miles from the Turkish coast,<br />is these days a deadly gantlet, choked with terrified adults and small children on flimsy, dangerous boats.<br />The Greek Coast Guard, especially when I was there, has been completely unprepared to deal with the constant<br />flow of rescues necessary to save refugees from drowning as they attempt to cross to Europe from Turkey.<br />The coast guard felt completely abandoned, they told me, as if the world had left<br />them to handle a huge humanitarian crisis — or allow thousands to drown offshore.<br />When I returned home to Greece last fall to make a film about the refugee crisis, I discovered a situation I had never imagined possible.<br />When I was there filming, Lesbos had about 40 local coast guard officers, who before<br />the refugee crisis generally spent their time conducting routine border patrols.
