Over one million migrants and asylum seekers reached Europe by sea in 2015, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Wednesday.
Greece was by far the top landing spot with 844,176 arrivals, and over 150,000 reached Italy, the BBC online reported.
The figures underscore the enormous impact that Syria’s nearly five-year civil war has had on changing migration patterns.
People fleeing war and Islamist terrorists in Africa and the Middle East land in Greece and Italy first because their outlying islands are closest to the shores of Africa.
Thousands die along the way, because they travel on packed, often unseaworthy boats run by migrant smugglers.
(source: ANSA)
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
