--- description: In recent weeks, chaos at border crossings and train stations, squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps and a heartbreaking photograph of a drowned Syrian toddler... title: Europe's Migrant Crisis Explained image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aac6cbfe365337b/698862cf5f570fce09b1d4b7/migrant-crisis.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [migration](/tag/migration/) ## migration Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The 5 Big Questions About Europe's Migrant Crisis  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Sep 9, 2015 7:39 PM CUT  Refugees are smuggled through fields and forests in an attempt to evade the Hungarian police close to the Serbian border on Sept. 8, 2015 in Roszke, Hungary. Refugees are smuggled through fields and forests in an attempt to evade the Hungarian police close to the Serbian border on Sept. 8, 2015 in Roszke, Hungary.Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/)  ## Naina Bajekal Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME. Sep 9, 2015 7:39 PM CUT In recent weeks, chaos at border crossings and train stations, squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps and a heartbreaking photograph of a drowned Syrian toddler have all helped bring Europe’s refugee crisis into the global spotlight. According to the [UNHCR](http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.html "undefined"), more than 380,000 migrants and refugees have landed on Europe’s southern shores so far this year, up from 216,000 arrivals in the whole of 2014\. They are fleeing persecution, poverty and conflicts that rage beyond the continent’s borders, but not all manage to reach safety – this year alone, [2,850 people have drowned in the Mediterranean](https://euobserver.com/tickers/130164 "undefined"). That hasn’t stopped people making desperate bids to reach Europe though. Here’s what to know about why the continent is facing one of its toughest challenges in decades. **1\. What’s the difference between refugee and migrant?** The U.N. [defines](http://unstats.un.org/unsd/publication/SeriesM/seriesm%5F58rev1e.pdf "undefined") an international migrant as “any person who changes his or her country of usual residence.” Migrants can move for a variety of reasons and the term ‘migrant’ is an umbrella one, encompassing both asylum-seekers and economic migrants – people moving specifically to improve their living conditions or job opportunities. Refugees, by contrast, are guaranteed a particular protection under international law. A refugee is recognized as a person fleeing conflict or persecution on the basis on race, religion, national, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Under the [1951 U.N. Refugee Convention](http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0e466.html "undefined"), a country is legally obliged to shelter a refugee and is not allowed to expel or return a refugee to somewhere where their life or freedom would be threatened. An asylum-seeker refers to a person who has applied for asylum but whose refugee status has not yet been determined. [**Read more: The U.N.’s original refugees**](http://time.com/4022123/refugee-history-migrant-crisis/ "undefined") **2\. Where are the migrants and refugees coming from?** A number of spiraling crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Ukraine and Iraq have partly driven the crisis, but [more than half of all refugees worldwide](http://unhcr.org/556725e69.pdf "undefined") in 2014 came from just three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. Since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, [more than 4 million Syrians ](http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php "undefined")have sought shelter in neighboring countries and another 7.6 million have been forced from their homes but remain displaced within Syria. An increase in attacks by President Bashar Assad’s forces and the growth of ISIS are fueling the movement, but people are partly fleeing now because it’s become clear that the conflict is unlikely to be resolved any time soon. The same is true for other modern conflicts that have been dragging on – over half of the world’s refugees have been in exile for more than five years. [**Read more: Stranded migrants turn Budapest into choke point of refugee crisis**](http://time.com/4019807/hungary-refugee-crisis/ "undefined") ### These Photos Show the Massive Scale of Europe’s Migrant Crisis  Syrian and Afghan refugees warm themselves and dry their clothes around a fire after arriving on a dinghy from the Turkish coast to the northeastern Greek island of Lesbos, early on Oct. 7, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  A migrant who recently arrived across the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey, watching a ferry in the port of Mytilene, Lesbos island, Greece, on Oct. 5, 2015. Zoltan Balogh—EPA  An Afghan wades to the shore after arriving in an overloaded rubber dinghy on the coast near Skala Sikaminias, Lesbos island, Greece, Oct. 1, 2015. Filip Singer—EPA  Syrian refugees are covered with life blankets upon arriving to the Greek island of Lesbos, after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 28, 2015. Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty Images  Migrants and refugees arrive on Sykamia beach, west of the port of Mytilene, on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean sea from Turkey, on Sept. 22, 2015. Iakovos Hatzistavrou—AFP/Getty Images  Migrants and refugees board a train by climbing through the windows as they try to avoid a police barrier at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2015. Manu Brabo—AP  A Syrian refugee boy cries while he and his family try to board a train at the station in Tovarnik, Croatia, on Sept. 20, 2015. Manu Brabo—AP  A migrant holds his child during a clash with Hungarian riot police at the Horgos border crossing in Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015. Sergey Ponomarev—The New York Times/Redux  Migrants sleep on a highway in front of a barrier at the border with Hungary near the village of Horgos, Serbia, on Sept. 16, 2015. Marko Djurica—Reuters  A wagon equipped with razor wire is placed at the border between Hungary and Serbia in Roszke, some 10 miles southeast from Budapest, Hungary, Sept. 14, 2015, to close the gap of the temporary border fence at the Horgos-Szeged railway line. Balazs Mohai—EPA  A refugee reacts from exhaustion while swimming towards the shore after a dinghy carrying Syrian and Afghan refugees before reaching the Greek island of Lesbos, on Sept. 13, 2015. Alkis Konstantinidis—Reuters  Syrian people sleep inside a greenhouse at a makeshift camp for asylum seekers near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 13, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Syrian refugee Raed Alabdou, 24, holds his one-month old daughter Roa'a, while he and his wife hide in a field not to be seen by Hungarian policemen, after they crossed the Serbian-Hungarian border near Roszke, southern Hungary, on Sept. 11, 2015. Muhammed Muheisen—AP  Migrants and refugees beg Macedonian police to allow passage to cross the border from Greece into Macedonia during a rainstorm, near the Greek village of Idomeni, on Sept. 10, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—Reuters  Migrants run over a motorway from a collection point that had been set up to transport people to camps in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 9, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  A young Syrian man from Damascus tries to evade the Hungarian police by sneaking through a forest close to the Serbian border in Morahalom, Hungary, on Sept. 8, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  Migrants cross into Hungary as they walk over railroad tracks at the Serbian border with Hungary in Horgas, Serbia, on Sept. 7, 2015. Dan Kitwood— Getty Images  A refugee from Syria prays after arriving on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos aboard an inflatable dinghy across the Aegean Sea from Turkey, on Sept. 7, 2015. Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty Images  A migrant scrambles to climb back aboard a rubber dinghy full of his fellow Syrians as they try to cross from Turkey to the Greek islands on their way to claim asylum in the European Union, late on Sept. 6, 2015. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  A Syrian migrant aboard a flimsy rubber motorboat hands his one-month-old baby to Greek coast guards, who have arrived to rescue the boat full of migrants from dangerous waters near the border between Greece and Turkey, early on Sept. 7, 2015. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  A young Syrian boy is wrapped with a thermal blanket as he arrives with others at the coast on a dinghy after crossing from Turkey, at the island of Lesbos, Greece, on Sept. 7, 2015. Petros Giannakouris—AP  Refugees and migrants wait to cross the border from the northern Greek village of Idomeni to southern Macedonia, on Sept. 7, 2015. Giannis Papanikos—AP  Migrants walk along rail tracks as they arrive to a collection point in the village of Roszke, Hungary, on Sept. 6, 2015. Marko Djurica—Reuters  Migrant families ride a train from Gevgelija to the Serbian border in Macedonia, on Sept. 4, 2015. Dan Kitwood—Getty Images  Migrants crowd the bridge of the Norwegian Siem Pilot ship sailing along the Mediterranean sea, on Sept. 2, 2015. Gregorio Borgia—AP   A Turkish gendarme carries the body of Alan Kurdi, 3, who drowned along with his brother Galip, 5, and their mother, in a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, in the coastal town of Bodrum, Turkey, on Sept. 2, 2015. Reuters  Dozens of refugee families, mostly from Syria, camped near the Keleti train station in Budapest, Hungary on Sept. 2, 2015. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  A Syrian migrant bids farewell to the Hungarian volunteers who welcomed him upon his arrival in the European Union in Szeged, Hungary on Aug. 30, 2015. Yuri Kozyrev—NOOR for TIME  A father of a migrants family is arrested by the local police near the village of Roszke on the Hungarian-Serbian border on Aug. 28, 2015. Attila Kisbender—AFP/Getty Images  Syrian migrants cross under a fence as they enter Hungary at the border with Serbia, near Roszke, on Aug. 27, 2015. Bernadett Szabo—Reuters  Hungarian soldiers install a wire fence at the border between Hungary and Serbia near Hercegszanto, 115 miles southeast from Budapest, on Aug. 25, 2015. Tamas Soki—EPA  A little girl from Syria looks out of a bus as the ferry she arrived in is reflected in the bus window at the port of Piraeus, Greece, on Aug. 25, 2015. Petros Giannakouris—AP  Children cry as migrants waiting on the Greek side of the border break through a cordon of Macedonian special police forces to cross into Macedonia, near the southern city of Gevgelija, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Aug. 21, 2015. Georgi Licovski—EPA  Gendarmerie attempt to prevent people from entering the Eurotunnel terminal in Coquelles, Calais, France on July 30, 2015. Rob Stothard—Getty Images  Life vests and a deflated dinghy are seen on a beach on the Greek island of Kos, following the arrival of Afghan immigrants, on May 30, 2015. Yannis Behrakis—Reuters **3\. So why is the crisis just hitting Europe now?** It’s due to a combination of factors. The developing countries who are currently hosting the vast majority of refugees from Syria are reaching breaking point. Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, [sheltering 3.6 million Syrian refugees between them](http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/regional.php "undefined"), are overwhelmed, and international humanitarian funding is falling far short of the need. Many would rather attempt the dangerous journey to Europe than subsist in impoverished, overcrowded refugee camps. The increased numbers have also been encouraged by German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s [pledge to Syrians ](http://time.com/4023186/refugees-migration-reasons/ "undefined")that if they could manage to reach Germany, they could apply for asylum there – effectively suspending [an E.U. law](http://www.ecre.org/topics/areas-of-work/protection-in-europe/10-dublin-regulation.html "undefined") that requires the first country an asylum seeker arrives in to be responsible for documenting and processing his or her application, and resettling them. The rule has placed a disproportionate burden on the southern countries of Italy, Greece and Malta, who see the most arrivals from the Mediterranean. There’s also a self-perpetuating element to the crisis; people who reach Europe successfully encourage friends and families to join them, and several Facebook pages in Arabic provide information for people making the same desperate bids to reach the continent. Increased international media coverage may also be playing a part in the surge of migrants as rumors of impending caps on refugee numbers, or brief gaps in border control along various frontiers encourages people to try to cross while they can. But along with the waves of Syrian refugees are many people fleeing turmoil or poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. Lots of them would have previously found safety or jobs in Libya but that[ country’s worsening instability](http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/23/the-view-from-libya-ground-zero-in-the-migrant-crisis/ "undefined") has propelled even more people to try their chances on the Mediterranean. This movement of people is unlikely to slow until winter arrives, making that journey even more difficult and dangerous than it already is. [**Read more: Why refugees from old wars are only rushing to Europe now**](http://time.com/4023186/refugees-migration-reasons/ "undefined") **4\. How are European countries responding to the crisis?** With tensions running high, Europe’s leaders remain divided on how best to respond to the crisis. Germany has said it will [spend $6.6 billion](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/europes-border-crisis/billions-migrants-germany-spend-6-6b-800-000-newcomers-n422811 "undefined") to cope with the 800,000 migrants and refugees it expects to welcome by the end of 2015\. The country had already [accepted](http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/asylum.php "undefined") 99,000 Syrians by July 2015, while Sweden has taken in 65,000. On Wednesday, the European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker [proposed national quotas](http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/sep/09/refugee-crisis-junker-unveils-eu-quota-plan-live-updates "undefined") to relocate an additional 120,000 asylum-seekers across Europe, on top of previous plans announced in May to redistribute 40,000 people. Juncker said tackling the crisis was “a matter of humanity and human dignity. It is true that Europe cannot house all the misery in the world. But we have to put it into perspective…This still represents just 0.11% of the EU population. In Lebanon refugees represent 25% of the population.” The new proposal, which could be ratified on Sept.14 at a special meeting of the interior ministers from the 28 E.U. member states, hopes to move 60% of the refugees currently in Italy, Greece and Hungary to Germany, France and Spain. France has committed to taking 24,000 migrants over two years and Spain said Wednesday it would take in an extra 15,000 people according to quotas. Not everyone has welcomed the plans, with Poland and Romania [opposing](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34193568 "undefined") the idea – though Poland agreed to take in more refugees. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka of the Czech Republic – where officials recently came under fire for numbering migrants with indelible ink – said compulsory quotas were “not a good solution”. Slovakia, which has [only taken 61 Syrians](http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/asylum.php "undefined") this year, recently announced it would only take in Christian migrants and Prime Minister Robert Fico called Juncker’s proposals “irrational”. Hungary’s nationalist Prime Minister last week made a [series of inflammatory remarks](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/03/muslims-threaten-europes-christian-identity-hungarys-leader-says/ "undefined"), including arguing that the influx of migrants from the Middle East poses a threat to Europe’s Christian identity. The country is focusing on building a barbed-wire fence along its border with Serbia. [**Read more: A fractured Europe scrambles to respond to spiraling migrant crisis**](http://time.com/4022715/europe-refugee-crisis-response/ "undefined") **5\. What can the U.S. do?** The U.S. has resettled only 1,554 Syrian refugees since the start of the civil war in 2011, out of the more than 4 million who have fled. International organizations have been trying to persuade the federal government to take in more, but the White House has yet to make a formal commitment to doing so. A State Department spokesman [told TIME](http://time.com/4023216/europe-migrants-syria-u-s-refugees/ "undefined") that the U.S. is likely to admit 1,500 – 1,800 Syrian refugees in total by October and expects to see an increase in that number in the following fiscal year. Secretary of State John Kerry [said Wednesday](http://time.com/4026805/refugee-crisis-john-kerry/ "undefined") the U.S. would commit to increasing the number of refugees it would take from [70,000 to 75,000](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6bc397fd4590473ebf30076719377b42/kerry-meet-lawmakers-about-migrant-crisis-abroad "undefined"). Some of them would be from Syria, but he did not give any specific numbers. Kerry’s predecessor, the Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton, has called for a “concerted global effort” to ease the crisis. [**Read next: Here’s how you can help migrants in Europe**](http://time.com/4021524/migrant-crisis-help-charity-donations/ "undefined") ### Photographers Aim to Put a Face on Europe's Migrant Crisis  Refugees from Libya rest in Ras Ajdir, a coastal town on the border between Libya and Tunisia in March, 2011. Davide Monteleone—VII  Refugees run to reach their transport to continue their journey in Libya, near the border with Egypt, May 18, 2014. Giulio Piscitelli—Contrasto/Redux  Migrants get ready to board the boat to reach Italy from the coast of Zarzis, Tunisia, March 13, 2011. Davide Monteleone—VII  A row of corpses line Al-Baida Beach in Bir Ali, Yemen, May 2, 2007\. A total of 34 bodies were found. Just one week after an almost identical tragedy saw 30 dead on a nearby beach, Somali smugglers continued to drop their human cargo out at sea rather than coming close to shore and risking detection. Alixandra Fazzina—NOOR  A group of men look out to the city of Melilla, Spain from a garbage dump in Morocco in Nov. 2004\. It is a short distance from North Africa to mainland Spain. Olivier Jobard—MYOP  A smuggler's boat bringing illegal immigrants from North Africa to the Canary Islands capsized near the coast in Nov. 2004\. Few could swim and two men drowned. Olivier Jobard—MYOP  After a shipwreck off the coast of Morocco in Nov. 2004, only four of 34 men still had their shoes. The others lost everything, including their clothes, and had to make sandals out of makeshift items such as plastic bottles. Olivier Joabrd—MYOP  Italian navy rescues asylum seekers traveling by boat off the coast of Africa on the Mediterranean, June 7, 2014. Massimo Sestini—Polaris  Two Afghan boys throw stones into the sea, while waiting for the evening to arrive, when they can sneak into the port and board a ship bound for Italy illegally in Patras, Italy, March 8, 2012\. Patras is one of the main escape points from Greece, due to the numerous cargo ships that dock in the port and are bound for Italy. Alessandro Penso—Magnum Foundation  Mohamed from Morocco and his friends hide behind the rocks at the port, waiting for the right moment to illegally board a ship to Italy from Corinth, Greece, Feb. 21, 2012\. In Greece, more than 99.5 percent of requests for political asylum are rejected, so these young people are forced to hide from the authorities. Alessandro Penso—Magnum Foundation  Sub-Saharan migrants scale a metallic fence that divides Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla, May 28, 2014. Santi Palacios—AP  Roughly 250 refugees from Egypt and Syria, among other countries, are checked by Doctors Without Borders as they disembark from an Italian ship, after being intercepted and rescued at sea en route to Italy from Egypt to the port in Pozzallo, Sicily, Italy, in Sept. 2014. Lynsey Addario—Getty Images Reportage  A family of Syrian refugees holds its identification. Nearly 300 Syrians landed in the port of Catania, Dec. 6, 2014. Alessio Mamo—Redux  Afghan refugees, Kabir and Zaher, sit by a fire in Subotica, Serbia, Nov. 10, 2012\. Zaher, who lost his left leg below the knees, made it to Serbia on crutches. Zaher says he is 16 and Kabir 15\. The two were traveling together from Greece. The men lived outdoors in Subotica, waiting for smugglers to give the green light to continue their journey. Daniel Etter—Redux  Refugees from Syria inside the Harmanli camp in Bulgaria, Nov. 19, 2013\. The biggest of Bulgaria’s “emergency centers” for refugees is in the town of Harmanli, about 18 miles (30 km) away from the Turkish border, where around 1,000 asylum-seekers are being detained on a former military base. Alessandro Penso—Magnum Foundation  A young girl from Syria cooks inside the Harmanli camp in Bulgaria, Nov. 19, 2013\. People living in tents have no access to sanitation facilities. Although there are four toilets in a building at the entrance of the center, they are frequently blocked and hardly adequate for hundreds of people. The tents are not heated and the residents sleep either on thin mattresses or on old foldable beds. Alessandro Penso—Magnum Foundation  Nezarisa Sakhi, a 31-year-old Iraqi, in Banya refugee center in Bulgaria on May 16, 2014\. Sakhi was attacked on the evening of Sept. 16, 2013 by nine Bulgarians, one of whom Nezarisa says had a knife. He was beaten and pushed off a bridge, breaking his leg. Alessandro Penso—Magnum Foundation  Nawras Soukhta, a 15-year-old from Damascus, sits in the train traveling from Stockholm to Malmö, Sweden, a few hours after his plane lands in Sweden on Oct. 22, 2014\. After 11 days sailing to Italy from Turkey, and another week traveling through Italy, the train ride to Malmö is the final leg of a three-week journey he has made in the hopes of applying for asylum in Sweden. Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin  Mansour, an immigrant from Mali waits a friend in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria, Dec. 7, 2014\. He is in a shelter in south-western part of the city. Giulio Piscitelli—Contrasto/Redux  A pair of trousers lie on the seabed near the shipwreck of the 66-foot-long fishing boat that sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa lies at a depth of 164 ft. on the seabed, Sept. 22, 2014\. The tragedy that happened a year ago on Oct. 3, 2013 killed 366 migrants from North Africa. Francesco Zizola—NOOR ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4026380/europe-migrant-crisis-questions-refugees/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4026380/europe-migrant-crisis-questions-refugees/"},"headline":"The 5 Big Questions About Europe's Migrant Crisis","datePublished":"2015-09-09T19:39:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:44.687Z","description":"In recent weeks, chaos at border crossings and train stations, squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps and a heartbreaking photograph of a drowned Syrian toddler...","url":"https://time.com/4026380/europe-migrant-crisis-questions-refugees/","keywords":["migration","europe"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aac6cbfe365337b/698862cf5f570fce09b1d4b7/migrant-crisis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6aac6cbfe365337b/698862cf5f570fce09b1d4b7/migrant-crisis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Hungary Migrants","caption":"Hungary Migrants","creditText":"Dan Kitwood—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/migration/","name":"migration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4026380/europe-migrant-crisis-questions-refugees/","name":"The 5 Big Questions About Europe's Migrant Crisis"}}]}] ```