More than 1 million refugees reach Europe in 2015

The number of migrants who have entered Europe by sea and land this year has passed 1 million, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday. Taking into account the latest updates, there had been 1,005,504 “irregular arrivals” in 2015.

The figures show that the vast majority — 971,289 — have come by sea over the Mediterranean. Another 34,215 have crossed from Turkey into Bulgaria and Greece by land.

Among those traveling by sea, 3,695 are known to have drowned. That’s a rate of more than 10 deaths each day this year.

One in every two of those crossing the Mediterranean this year — half a million people — were Syrians escaping the grinding, four-year civil war in their homeland, which has created the worst refugee crisis seen in 25 years, according to the United Nations.

Afghans accounted for 20% of the migrant flow, and Iraqis 7%.

Meanwhile, Turkey is now the largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with close to 2.5 million. And Lebanon, with a population of less than 5 million, is hosting more than a million.

[CNN]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation by Grant Montgomery.