1 million refugees enter Europe this year

GENEVA (AP) — The International Organization for Migration says more than 1 million migrants and refugees have crossed into Europe this year, a symbolic milestone amid the fallout of war, poverty and persecution in Africa and the Middle East.

Around 1 million migrants arrived in Germany in 2015, but that is a figure that includes large numbers of people from Europe’s Balkan countries such as Albania and Serbia. Afghans – about 186,000 – accounted for 20% and Iraqis for 7%.

“As anti-foreigner sentiments escalate in some quarters, it is important to recognize the positive contributions that refugees and migrants make to the societies in which they live and also honour core European values: protecting lives, upholding human rights and promoting tolerance and diversity”, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres.

The IOM’s director general William Lacy Swing has called the Mediterranean “the deadliest route for migrants on our planet”.

The migrant crisis has been one of Europe’s top concern this year, due to the dramatic rise in the numbers of people trying to reach its shores.

“But it’s not enough to count the number of those arriving…”

Around 972,500 people had crossed the Mediterranean Sea by December 21, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

The new figures, jointly released by UNHCR and IOM, listed the arrivals in six European countries since January 1, with the vast majority of people – 821,008 – landing in Greece. We must also act.

Some 3,600 died or went missing, including 422 deaths at sea, the two agencies added on Tuesday. “Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all – both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will become their new homes”.

“I don’t understand why people are insisting that this is a European problem”. Most of the migrants searching for asylum in Europe fled the war-torn countries of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.