In the first six months of this year, 137,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea, travelling in terrible conditions upon unsafe boats and dinghies. Many more tried, but didn’t make it. In mid-April 2015, 800 people died in the largest refugee shipwreck on record, highlighting a staggering increase in refugees and migrants dying or missing at sea.
UNHCR
Europe is living through a maritime refugee crisis of historic proportions. Its evolving response has become one of the continent’s defining challenges of the early 21st century, with long-lasting implications for humanitarian practice, regional stability and international public opinion. In the first six months of this year, 137,000 refugees and migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea, travelling in terrible conditions upon unsafe boats and dinghies. Many more tried, but didn’t make it. In mid-April 2015, 800 people died in the largest refugee shipwreck on record, highlighting a staggering increase in refugees and migrants dying or missing at sea. This tragedy thrust the crisis into headlines around the world, and the EU launched a series of emergency meetings to establish a more effective joint response. These events raise profound questions. Who are the people arriving on Europe’s southern shores, where are they coming from, and why? How can Europe best help them, both to alleviate the suffering that drives them further from their homes, and to address its root causes?
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