Migrants: more than a million arrive in the EU

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By Euronews  with Reuters, EFE
Migrants: more than a million arrive in the EU

More than a million migrants and refugees have arrived in the European Union by land and sea in 2015.

A further 3,600 died or are missing, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

1,005,504 people had arrived in Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus by December the 21st.

Who are they?

Half of those recorded on arrival are Syrians fleeing the war in their country.

Another 20 percent are Afghans while seven percent are Iraqi nationals.

How did they get to the EU?

816,752 – the vast majority of those who arrived – did so by sea in Greece according to the IOM.

A “record level” of conflict

The UNHCR blames a record level of conflict around the globe.

“We do not want more refugees, we want to avoid refugees being created and for that, peace is essential. In today’s world, we need a surge of diplomacy for peace because obviously we see this multiplication of conflicts and we see that the international community seems powerless in trying to stop them” said High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres.

Predictions for 2016

The UNHCR is expecting the arrivals to continue at a similar rate in 2016. The IOM, however, says it is impossible to predict future numbers.

The UNHCR says the record movement of people into Europe is a symptom of a record level of disruption around the globe. The number of refugees and internally-displaced people is well over 60 million.