These days, Abu Mohammed dispatches his customers from the secluded coves around Side, a small coastal resort town. On a recent evening, with the help of his Turkish partners, who provide small fishing boats, he managed to get about 200 Syrian refugees, many of whom had been staying in hotels and resorts, to a repurposed cargo ship in international waters, about 35 miles from the shore. There, they waited for another group before setting off for Italy.

One of the refugees, Mohammed al-Nasir, 24, waited with his cousin and another passenger before boarding one of the small boats. He had spent the past year in Istanbul, working as a cleaner, but he managed to save enough for the trip. The prices for the trips are high, and many of the mostly middle-class Syrians have to sell their houses and possessions to buy tickets.

“With everything we have seen and been through, we are prepared to sacrifice everything just to get to a better place,” said Mr. Nasir, who had been sleeping in restaurants and buses for more than a week waiting to get on the ship. “We are indifferent to safety on the sea because we face a bigger risk of death at home. We just want to get there now.”