--- title: This Graphic Shows the Huge Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis description: More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country's ongoing civil war canonical: https://time.com/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/ author: Naina Bajekal article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-10T13:59:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:50:36.507Z article:section: World og:title: This Graphic Shows the Astonishing Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis og:description: More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country's ongoing civil war og:url: https://time.com/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Graphic Shows the Astonishing Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis twitter:description: More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country's ongoing civil war twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Graphic Shows the Astonishing Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/) and [Lon Tweeten](/author/lon-tweeten/) Sep 10, 2015 1:59 PM CUT by [Naina Bajekal](/author/naina-bajekal/) and [Lon Tweeten](/author/lon-tweeten/) Sep 10, 2015 1:59 PM CUT In recent weeks, chaos at border crossings and train stations, squalid conditions in makeshift refugee camps and a[ heartbreaking photograph](http://time.com/4022765/aylan-kurdi-photo/ "undefined") 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. This graphic shows the impact of Syria’s war on the flow of refugees to countries in its immediate vicinity and beyond—and the path many thousands are taking from East to West, in the hope of finding safe haven in Europe.  After more than four years of war, millions of Syrians have fled their country, and an increasing number are seeking sanctuary in Europe Lon Tweeten for TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/"},"headline":"This Graphic Shows the Astonishing Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis","datePublished":"2015-09-10T13:59:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:50:36.507Z","description":"More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country's ongoing civil war","url":"https://time.com/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/","keywords":["migration"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Naina Bajekal","jobTitle":"Bajekal was executive editor and international editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/naina-bajekal/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lon Tweeten","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lon-tweeten/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"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/4028055/syria-europe-refugees-graphic/","name":"This Graphic Shows the Astonishing Scale of Syria's Refugee Crisis"}}]}] ```