Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Country: Afghanistan, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Greece, Guinea, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, World
In 2015 and until July 2016, an increasing number of people risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety. More than 1 million people arrived by boats in 2015 and more than 257,000 people between January and July 2016. A 64 per cent come from the world’s top 10 refugee-producing countries.
Main Trends
- In July 2016, 25,930 people arrived by sea through the Mediterranean. Among those, 1,920 people arrived to Greece, 23,552 people to Italy and 458 people arrived to Spain. Total arrivals to Greece, Italy and Spain in July increased by 5% compared to June (24,583), but decreased by 67% compared to July (78,431) in 2015.
- Between January and July 2016, 257,005 people arrived by sea, including 160,297 to Greece, 93,774 to Italy and 2,934 to Spain. This constitutes 14% increase compared to the same period in 2015 (225,595).
- In 2016, the top three countries of origin of arrivals were Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan and Iraq.
- The majority of arrivals are from the Syrian Arab Republic (30.0%), Afghanistan (15.7%), Iraq (9.6%), Nigeria (7.2%), Eritrea (4.5%), Pakistan (3.0%), Côte d'Ivoire (2.9%), Gambia (2.8%) and Guinea (2.7%) amongst others.
