In 2015 and in the first half of 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 230,000 people in the first six months of 2016. A 69 per cent come from the world’s top 10 refugee-producing countries.
Main trends:
In June 24,583 people arrived by sea through the Mediterranean. Among those, 1,554 people arrived to Greece, 22,371 people to Italy and 658 people arrived to Spain. Total arrivals to Greece, Italy and Spain in June increased by 11% compared to May (22,451), but decreased by 55% compared to June (55,518) in 2015.
In the first six months of the 2016, 231,075 people arrived by sea, including 158,377 to Greece, 70,222 to Italy and 2,476 to Spain. This constitutes 51% increase compared to the same period in 2015, but 74% decrease compared to the second half of 2015.
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 (33.1%), Afghanistan (17.4%), Iraq (10.6%), Nigeria (5.3%), Eritrea (3.8%), Pakistan (3.1%), Gambia (2.6%), Côte d'Ivoire (2.5%) and Guinea (2.5%) amongst others.