1 million refugees entered Europe this year

  • 23/12/2015
A migrant arrives aboard the passenger ferry Eleftherios Venizelos from the island of Lesbos, Greece (Reuters)
A migrant arrives aboard the passenger ferry Eleftherios Venizelos from the island of Lesbos, Greece (Reuters)

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says there’s been a total of 1,005,504, with almost all arriving by sea. A total of 3,692 drowned trying to make the crossing, with the most deaths from people travelling from north Africa to Italy.

Around half of the people entering Europe were Syrians, 20 percent Afghans and 7 percent Iraqis.

IOM director-general William Lacy Swing says migration must be legal and safe for both the migrants and the countries that become their new homes, The Huffington Post reports.

The IOM used government records in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, Malta and Cyprus, but a spokesperson says the real number of people entering Europe may be even larger with authorities struggling to keep track of everyone.

Greece took in more than 820,000 people this year, with the majority crossing by boat from Turkey across the Aegean Sea. Another 150,000 came into Italy across the Mediterranean from north Africa, and fewer by land from Turkey into Greece and Bulgaria.

Others that were not accounted for in the IOM total crossed from borders such as a route from Russia to Norway where a few thousand crossed by bicycle, The Huffington Post reports.

Germany and Sweden have welcomed the largest numbers of refugees. Germany has allowed around one million migrants this year, but this figure also includes large numbers of people from eastern European countries.

The war in Syria was a crucial factor in driving the number of migrants, a movement Europe hasn't seen in half a century.

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