Refugee Arrivals in the Mediterranean in Perspective

The migrant routes to Europe have changed and now Italy is pressuring the rest of the EU to help with the high number of migrants that arrive on its shores or are being picked up by rescue vessels in the Med. Most of the migrants now depart from restive Libya.

According to latest figures provided by the UNHCR, there have been 83,800 sea arrivals in Italy until the end of June, up from 77,200 arrivals in the same time period last year. As the infographic shows, the total number of migrants arriving in Europe peaked in October 2015 when approximately 222,500 refugees and migrants arrived in one month, of which most by far (211,700) landed in Greece, coming from Turkey.