When Alan Kurdi and his family boarded a tiny dinghy in the early hours of 2 September 2015 they were attempting to reach the Greek island of Kos and travel onwards to mainland Europe.

The disaster that killed the three-year-old Syrian boy, his mother and brother destroyed that dream but many desperate refugees continue to risk their lives undertaking the same treacherous journey.

Alan and his brother are among hundreds of children who have drowned, with their small bodies washing up along the coasts of Turkey, Greece, Italy and Libya.

Turkish police officers stand next to the dead bodies of drowned children i Izmir, Turkey, in February 2016 (AP)

Those who survive are the lucky ones, but they face a bleak future in an increasingly hostile Europe, whose leaders struck a deal now seeing all refugees arriving on Greek islands imprisoned under the threat of deportation.

“If Alan had survived he would probably have made it somewhere in Europe with his family – but not now,” says Sacha Myers, from Save the Children.

“Last September, we would see children for a few hours or a day and then they would move on, but now they are stuck here for weeks or even months.

“We have more people arriving every day but there’s just not space. Tensions are increasing and parents are so concerned for their children.

“Many of them have lost loved ones or have seen awful things in their short lives, and now they are locked in camps.”

Sexual violence and abuse has been reported in Greece’s many detention centres, which have also been hit by riots and violent police crackdowns seeing tents burned and tear gas fired at refugees.

Some families – mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq – have been left too frightened to leave their shelters at night or to even venture to use the toilets that are shared by thousands of men, women and children.

In Kos, where almost 5,000 refugees have arrived this year, Ms Myers described deteriorating living conditions as “absolutely miserable” as authorities scrabble to expand the reception centre into a car park.

Refugee crisis - in pictures Show all 27 1 /27 Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugee crisis - in pictures A child looks through the fence at the Moria detention camp for migrants and refugees at the island of Lesbos on May 24, 2016. AFP/Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Ahmad Zarour, 32, from Syria, reacts after his rescue by MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) while attempting to reach the Greek island of Agathonisi, Dodecanese, southeastern Agean Sea Refugee crisis - in pictures Syrian migrants holding life vests gather onto a pebble beach in the Yesil liman district of Canakkale, northwestern Turkey, after being stopped by Turkish police in their attempt to reach the Greek island of Lesbos on 29 January 2016. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees flash the 'V for victory' sign during a demonstration as they block the Greek-Macedonian border Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants have been braving sub zero temperatures as they cross the border from Macedonia into Serbia. Refugee crisis - in pictures A sinking boat is seen behind a Turkish gendarme off the coast of Canakkale's Bademli district on January 30, 2016. At least 33 migrants drowned on January 30 when their boat sank in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross from Turkey to Greece. Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A general view of a shelter for migrants inside a hangar of the former Tempelhof airport in Berlin, Germany Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees protest behind a fence against restrictions limiting passage at the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Since last week, Macedonia has restricted passage to northern Europe to only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans who are considered war refugees. All other nationalities are deemed economic migrants and told to turn back. Macedonia has finished building a fence on its frontier with Greece becoming the latest country in Europe to build a border barrier aimed at checking the flow of refugees Refugee crisis - in pictures A father and his child wait after being caught by Turkish gendarme on 27 January 2016 at Canakkale's Kucukkuyu district Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants make hand signals as they arrive into the southern Spanish port of Malaga on 27 January, 2016 after an inflatable boat carrying 55 Africans, seven of them women and six chidren, was rescued by the Spanish coast guard off the Spanish coast. Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee holds two children as dozens arrive on an overcrowded boat on the Greek island of Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures A child, covered by emergency blankets, reacts as she arrives, with other refugees and migrants, on the Greek island of Lesbos, At least five migrants including three children, died after four boats sank between Turkey and Greece, as rescue workers searched the sea for dozens more, the Greek coastguard said Refugee crisis - in pictures Migrants wait under outside the Moria registration camp on the Lesbos. Over 400,000 people have landed on Greek islands from neighbouring Turkey since the beginning of the year Refugee crisis - in pictures The bodies of Christian refugees are buried separately from Muslim refugees at the Agios Panteleimonas cemetery in Mytilene, Lesbos Refugee crisis - in pictures Macedonian police officers control a crowd of refugees as they prepare to enter a camp after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A refugee tries to force the entry to a camp as Macedonian police officers control a crowd after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees are seen aboard a Turkish fishing boat as they arrive on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing a part of the Aegean Sea from the Turkish coast to Lesbos Reuters Refugee crisis - in pictures An elderly woman sings a lullaby to baby on a beach after arriving with other refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A man collapses as refugees make land from an overloaded rubber dinghy after crossing the Aegean see from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures A girl reacts as refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees make a show of hands as they queue after crossing the Greek border into Macedonia near Gevgelija Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures People help a wheelchair user board a train with others, heading towards Serbia, at the transit camp for refugees near the southern Macedonian town of Gevgelija AP Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees board a train, after crossing the Greek-Macedonian border, near Gevgelija. Macedonia is a key transit country in the Balkans migration route into the EU, with thousands of asylum seekers - many of them from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia - entering the country every day Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures An aerial picture shows the "New Jungle" refugee camp where some 3,500 people live while they attempt to enter Britain, near the port of Calais, northern France Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures A Syrian girl reacts as she helped by a volunteer upon her arrival from Turkey on the Greek island of Lesbos, after having crossed the Aegean Sea EPA Refugee crisis - in pictures Refugees arrive by boat on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey Getty Images Refugee crisis - in pictures Beds ready for use for migrants and refugees are prepared at a processing center on January 27, 2016 in Passau, Germany. The flow of migrants arriving in Passau has dropped to between 500 and 1,000 per day, down significantly from last November, when in the same region up to 6,000 migrants were arriving daily.

“Children and adults arriving in Kos are forced to sleep on the ground or abandoned or ruined buildings because there isn’t enough accommodation available,” she told The Independent.

“The hotspot is a fenced area far away from town and is not a safe environment for children, especially those who have fled conflict and extreme poverty in their homeland.

“Tensions are increasing due to the poor conditions and because many people have been waiting for months with no end in sight. People are losing hope.”

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) recently warned that the island’s reception centre had far surpassed its capacity, calling on local authorities to ship refugees to a neighbouring island to reduce overcrowding.

Asylum seekers trapped on Kos are just a fraction of around 60,000 currently stranded in Greece, facing being returned to Turkey if their applications fail, or stranded at the country’s border if they are granted protection and wish to travel onwards.

Only 119 of the 8,000 relocation places pledged by 22 European countries remain, while almost 500 migrants have so far been sent back to Turkey since the implementation of the controversial agreement with the EU in March.

Naval and coastguard ships were sent to patrol the Aegean Sea to intercept migrant boats, prevent the hundreds of thousands of crossings seen last year and crack down on people smuggling.

Daniel Esdras, the International Organisation for Migration’s chief of mission in Greece, warned that although the measures had seen an abrupt drop in drownings, they were making refugees’ journeys to Europe “expensive, more difficult and more dangerous”.

Poor health conditions for refugee children in Greek camps

“If you have money you can pass any border – let’s face it – and the more difficult the border is the more expensive it will be,” he told The Independent.

“Some people go back to Turkey so they can try again, take a different route to Europe. No one can be sure what will happen now.”

Humanitarian agencies have long warned that the closure of borders along the Western Balkans route towards Germany would push refugees into the hands of ruthless people smugglers, amid reports of brutality by police and local vigilante groups.

A 20-year-old Afghan asylum seeker was shot dead while walking through forests from Bulgaria thorough Serbia, while a Syrian was arrested after being shot by Slovakian border guards in May.

In Hungary, four criminal cases are underway against border guards accused of excessive force as the government plans to build an even “more massive” anti-refugee fence than the existing razor wire construction.

Frontex, the EU’s border agency, acknowledged in a recent report that the border closures have made it more difficult for refugee flows to be monitored, as desperate asylum seekers evade checks with more “dynamic and dangerous” routes.

More than 280,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, according to UN numbers

Lucy Carrigan, from the International Rescue Committee, said refugees arriving on Europe’s shores were being greeted by “much less compassion”.

“The events of the past year have made people much less welcoming to refugees and less understanding about who they are and why they need protection,” she told The Independent.

“I don’t think that anybody who cares about refugees wants to see them risk their lives at sea. We have to do better for these people.”

More than 280,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year, according to UN figures, with at least 3,169 dying so far, setting 2016 on course to be the deadliest year on record.

The Missing Migrants Project lists causes of death including drowning, asphyxiation, boat fires, hypothermia and illness.

While most asylum seekers this year have crossed the Aegean Sea, numbers are rising in the Central Mediterranean, which has become the deadliest sea passage in the world since the start of the refugee crisis.

At least 6,500 people were rescued on Monday alone and aid workers fear further disasters as smugglers continue to pack desperate asylum seekers onto dangerously overcrowded boats.

Ms Myers said that while Alan’s death alerted the world the harrowing consequences of the refugee crisis, the ongoing plight of child migrants must not be forgotten.