Pictures of the Year: A picture and its story
A migrant looks out from under a truck as a port police officer waits to detain him at the port of Patras, from where migrants try to smuggle themselves onto ferries to Italy, in Patras, Greece, March 8, 2018. Reuters photographer Alkis Konstantinidis: "I was in the port city of Patras covering the efforts of migrants to smuggle themselves onto ferries bound for Italy. It's a dangerous passage but became more appealing after the closure of the overland route to northern Europe through the Balkans. It was during the final hours of my two-day access in the port when an officer with the coast guard's special forces squad kneeled beside a truck lined up for embarkation control and pointed his torch towards the undercarriage. Suddenly, he yelled, "Get down! Get down from there!" at two eyes peering back at him. A young man crawled out, checking his surroundings. He looked lost, and I shot some frames as he emerged between the wheels. He got up in silence and was quickly detained and handcuffed. He was part of a group of a few hundred young, mostly Afghan or Pakistani migrants who had been squatting in abandoned factories opposite the port. Every day, they ran across the busy street into the fence, looking for trucks in which to stow away. Most were discovered by police dogs and X-ray machines and held overnight before being released. Nearly all would try their luck again and again." REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis SEARCH "POY STORY" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "REUTERS POY" FOR ALL BEST OF 2018 PACKAGES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY.