The European migrant crisis or European refugee crisis began in 2015, when an increasing number of refugees and migrants made the journey to the European Union (EU) to seek asylum, travelling across the Mediterranean Sea or through Southern Europe. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the top three nationalities of the over one million Mediterranean Sea arrivals in 2015 were Syrian (49%), Afghan (21%) and Iraqi (8%). Of the refugees and migrants arriving in Europe by sea in 2015, 58% were men, 17% women and an alarming 25% underage children.
The European migrant crisis or European refugee crisis began in 2015, when an increasing number of refugees and migrants made the journey to the European Union (EU) to seek asylum, travelling across the Mediterranean Sea or through Southern Europe. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the top three nationalities of the over one million Mediterranean Sea arrivals in 2015 were Syrian (49%), Afghan (21%) and Iraqi (8%). Of the refugees and migrants arriving in Europe by sea in 2015, 58% were men, 17% women and an alarming 25% underage children.