Registered and reported arrivals to Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy and Bulgaria from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 30,971 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea as of June 2018. So far this month, 1,190 arrivals to Italy, Greece and Spain have been recorded, the majority of which arrived in Spain (47% of total European arrivals). The arrivals since 1 January this year compares with 73,078 arrivals across the region through the same period last year.

© Global Trends Report, UNHCR

In the first six months of 2018 42.653 people arrived from the sea, 1.063 died and went missing.

© Situations Mediterranean, UNHCR

This chart shows migrant sea arrivals in Europe of selected countries of arrival since January 2018.

© IOM

Available data on the nationalities of migrants and refugees who arrived in Greece and Italy, two main entry points in the Mediterranean, indicate some changes in the nationality structure of the registered population between the first four months of 2017 and 2018. The top five registered nationality groups in Greece reveal that an estimated third of the migrants and refugees were Syrian nationals in both 2017 (36%) and 2018 (47%). The differences in nationality structures between the two years, however, become evident in the second largest group, Iraqi nationals, whose portion of the overall caseload differs between years. In 2017, 10% of the migrants were of Iraqi origin while in 2018 this increased to 17%.

© Global Trends Report, UNHCR

About 2.7 million people were newly registered as refugees during 2017, double the amount from 2016 and close to the record number of new refugee arrivals registered in 2014. This figure is based on the 1,320,700 refugees who were recognized on a group or prima facie basis, as well as the 1,410,800 who were granted some temporary form of protection. Most of these refugees fled to neighbouring countries or elsewhere in their immediate region. New registrations can sometimes include people who arrived prior to 2017 and, in some cases where reporting is done by governments, may also include newborns.

© Situations Mediterranean, UNHCR

The number of monthly arrivals from each country are aggregated and stacked to produce the totals for each month, shown on the graph above.

© IOM

The figures include numbers of Syrian refugees assisted by IOM Turkey through 1:1 resettlement scheme as well as other bilateral programmes. Between April 2016 and April 2018, a total of 16,137 Syrian refugees have departed to European countries.

© Global Trends Report, UNHCR

The Syrian people continued to bear the brunt of the civil war, and Syria remained the main country of origin of refugees at the end of 2017. More than 6.3 million people have been forced to flee the country, accounting for almost one-third of the world’s total refugee population [Figure 3]. There was a 14% increase in the total number of Syrian refugees in 2017. Currently, Syrian refugees have found asylum in 125 countries throughout the world, with the majority being hosted by Turkey (3,424,200). At the end of 2017, large populations of refugees from Syria were also residing in Lebanon (992,100), Jordan (653,000), Germany (496,700), Iraq (247,100), Egypt (126,700), Sweden (103,600), Austria (43,900), and the Netherlands (30,900). The second-largest population of refugees in 2017 was from Afghanistan, whose refugee population grew by 5% to 2.6 million people by the end of 2017, due mainly to births and a large number of positive decisions granting protection to asylum-seekers in Germany. Afghan refugees were mostly living in Pakistan (1,392,600). The largest increase during 2017 was of refugees from South Sudan, the number of which rose from 1.4 million at the beginning of the year to 2.4 million at the end of 2017. The majority of South Sudanese refugees resided in Uganda (1,037,400), Sudan (772,700), Ethiopia (421,400), Kenya (111,500), and the DRC (89,000).

© Global Trends Report, UNHCR

At the end of 2017, Turkey continued to be the country hosting the world’s largest number of refugees, with a 21 per cent increase in its refugee population, from 2.9 million at the beginning of the year to 3.5 million at the end. The total refugee population hosted in Turkey comprised Syrians (3,424,200), along with Iraqis (37,300), Iranians (8,300), and Afghans (5,600). Pakistan hosted the second-largest refugee population, with 1.4 million refugees. Even though this number rose slightly (3%) over the course of 2017, the increase was due mainly to births, partially offset by the repatriation of 59,000 Afghan refugees. Uganda also hosted a large population of refugees in 2017, where arrivals of refugees from South Sudan and the DRC pushed the number to 1.4 million, a 44% increase over 2016. In addition to 1,037,400 refugees from South Sudan, Uganda also hosted sizable refugee populations from the DRC (226,200), Burundi (38,200), Somalia (25,000), and Rwanda (14,300).