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Migrantcrisis:MigrationtoEuropeexplainedingraphics
9November2015 Europe

AP/Reu/EPA

VastnumbersofmigrantshavemadetheirwayacrosstheMediterraneantoEuropein
2015,sparkingacrisisascountriesstruggletocopewiththeinflux,andcreatingdivision
intheEUoverhowbesttodealwithresettlingpeople.

Howmanypeoplearecoming?
Morethan750,000migrantsareestimatedtohavearrivedbyseasofarthisyear,accordingto
theInternationalOrganizationforMigration(IOM),butexactnumbersareunclearassomemay
havepassedthroughbordersundetected.
Onewaytomeasurewheremigrantshaveendedupisthroughasylumapplications.Although
notallofthosearrivingclaimasylum,over700,000havedoneso,accordingtotheEUstatistics
agency,Eurostat.
GermanycontinuestobethemostpopulardestinationformigrantsarrivinginEurope.Ithas
receivedthehighestnumberofnewasylumapplications,withmorethan331,000bytheendof
October.
Hungaryhasmovedintosecondplace,asmoremigrantshavetriedtomakethejourney
overlandthroughGreeceandtheWesternBalkans.Ithad143,070applicationsbytheendof
August.

AlthoughGermanyhashadthemostasylumapplicationsin2015,thesurgeofpeoplearrivingin
Hungarymeantithadthehighestinproportiontoitspopulation.
Morethan1,450refugeesper100,000ofHungary'slocalpopulationclaimedasyluminthefirst
halfof2015.ThefigureforGermanywas323andfortheUKitwas30applicationsforevery
100,000residents.

Wheredothemigrantscomefrom?
TheconflictinSyriacontinuestobebyfarthebiggestdriverofthemigration.Buttheongoing
violenceinAfghanistan,abusesinEritrea,aswellaspovertyinKosovoarealsoleadingpeople
tolookfornewliveselsewhere.

Resettlementplan

TensionsintheEUhavebeenrisingbecauseofthedisproportionateburdenfacedbysome
countries,particularlyGreece,ItalyandHungarywheremigrantshavebeenarrivingbyboat
andoverland.
InSeptember,EUministersvotedbyamajoritytorelocate120,000refugeesEUwide,butfor
nowtheplanwillonlyapplyto66,000whoareinItalyandGreece.
Theother54,000weretobemovedfromHungary,butnowthisnumberwillbeheld"inreserve",
untilthegovernmentsdecidewheretheyshouldgo.

TheUKhasoptedoutofanyplansforaquotasystemand,accordingtoHomeOfficefigures,
hasresettled216SyrianrefugeesundertheVulnerablePersonsRelocationschemesinceit
beganinJanuary2014.PrimeMinisterDavidCameronhassaidtheUKwillacceptupto20,000
refugeesfromSyriaoverthenextfiveyears.

Grantingasylum
Althoughhugenumbershavebeenapplyingforasylum,thenumberofpeoplebeinggiven
asylumisfarlower.

In2014,EUcountriesofferedasylumto184,665refugees.Inthesameyear,morethan570,000
migrantsappliedforasylumalthoughapplyingforasylumcanbealengthyproceduresomany
ofthosegivenrefugeestatusmayhaveappliedinpreviousyears.

Thereweremorethan25,000asylumapplicationsintheUKinthe12monthsuptoJune2015.
Mostapplicationsaretypicallyrejectedandin2014,morethan60%ofinitialdecisionson
asylumapplicationswererefusals.
Inthesameperiod,6,788asylumseekersandtheirdependentswereremovedordeparted
voluntarilyfromtheUK.

HowdomigrantsgettoEurope?
TheInternationalOrganizationforMigration(IOM)estimatesthatmorethan750,000migrants
weredetectedattheEU'sbordersbetweenJanuaryandNovember2015,comparedwith
280,000detectionsforthewholeof2014.Thefiguresdonotincludethosewhogotin
undetected.
TheEU'sexternalborderforce,Frontex,monitorsthedifferentroutesmigrantsuseandnumbers
arrivingatEurope'sbordersandputthefigurecrossingintoEuropethisyearatmorethan
710,000.

MostofthoseheadingforGreecetaketherelativelyshortvoyagefromTurkeytotheislandsof
Kos,Chios,LesvosandSamosofteninflimsyrubberdinghiesorsmallwoodenboats.

Howmanymigrantsdie?
ThevoyagefromLibyatoItalyislongerandmorehazardous.AccordingtotheIOM,morethan
2,800migrantsarereportedtohavediedtryingtomakethecrossingthisyearaltogether,3,406
peoplehavediedintheMediterraneanin2015.

Thesummermonthsareusuallywhenmostfatalitiesoccurasitisthebusiesttimeformigrants
attemptingtoreachEurope.
ButsofarthisyearthedeadliestmonthformigrantswasApril,whichsawaboatcarryingabout
800migrantscapsizeintheseaoffLibya.Overcrowdingisthoughttohavebeenoneofthe
reasonsforthedisaster.

ImpactoftheSyriancrisis
AsylumapplicationsfromSyriansinEuropehavesurgedin2015,fuelledbythecountry's
viciouscivilwarwhichbeganmorethanfouryearsagoandshowsnosignofending.
ThevastmajorityofrefugeeshavefledtoneighbouringcountriessuchasTurkey,Lebanonand
Jordan,andthenumberofSyrianstherefaroutweighsthosewhohavemadethedifficultjourney
toEurope.

MigrantsredistributedwithinGermany
Germanyiscurrentlythepreferreddestinationfortensofthousandsofmigrantsincentral
Europe.Morethan800,000peopleareexpectedtoclaimasylumtherethisyear,fourtimes
thefigurefor2014.
Germanyhasaquotasystemwhichredistributesasylumseekersarounditsfederalstates
basedontheirtaxincomeandexistingpopulationdensity.

Anoteonterminology:TheBBCusesthetermmigranttorefertoallpeopleonthemovewho
haveyettocompletethelegalprocessofclaimingasylum.Thisgroupincludespeoplefleeing
wartorncountriessuchasSyria,whoarelikelytobegrantedrefugeestatus,aswellaspeople
whoareseekingjobsandbetterlives,whogovernmentsarelikelytoruleareeconomic
migrants.

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Migrantcrisis