Europe's growing refugee burden

The flow of refugees in the European Union has increased about 50% in 2014. The latest figures presented by the Eurostat on Tuesday marked a rise by almost 195 thousand asylum applicants from year before, to the total of 626 thousands of refugees from the countries outside EU. Most refugees come from Syria. People escaping Eritrea and Afganistan were next on the list. 

Asylum applicants from Syria rose to 122 thousand in the EU-28 in 2014, which equated to 20 % of the total from all non-member countries. Afghani citizens accounted for 7 % of the total, while Kosovans and Eritrean citizens accounted for 6 % and Serbians for 5 %. Among the 30 main groups of citizenship of asylum applicants in the EU-28 in 2014, by far the largest relative increase compared to 2013 was recorded for individuals from Ukraine.

EU governments are also working on emergency steps to cope with refugees coming through politically anarchic Libya, often loaded onto barely seaworthy boats by human-trafficking gangs. In the worst of many catastrophes at sea, a refugee boat capsized off the Libyan coast last month, drowning at least 700 people. Britain and France are leading efforts to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution permitting EU military action against smugglers.

On this page you can explore where do the refugees in Europe come from and where are they going to. Select the country of origin on the barchart to the right to see the ranking of the countries of asylum. Select the country of asylum to see the top-20 countries from which the refugees are coming there

Source: Asylum applications in the EU Member States, 2008-2014