EU 2015 refugee arrival exceeds 1 million: UN

The number of refugees and asylum seekers arriving by land and sea in the European Union has passed the one million mark in 2015, new figures show. 

The new figures, jointly released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), include over 970,000 who made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

The report by the two agencies also listed refugee arrivals in six European countries since January 1, with the vast majority of them - 821,008 - landing in Greece. The rest arrived in Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Malta and Cyprus.

According to the UN refugee agency and the IOM, more than 3,600 refugees have died or gone missing while trying to cross the sea or reach the EU on foot.

The report noted that half of the asylum seekers are from Syria and the rest from other war-ravaged countries including Afghanistan and Iraq.

The UNHCR expects the same number to arrive in Europe in 2016 due to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.

IOM chief William Lacy Swing in a statement has voiced serious concerns about the fate of refugees.

"We know migration is inevitable, it's necessary and it's desirable," Swing said in a statement, adding, "But it's not enough to count the number of those arriving, or the nearly 4,000 this year reported missing or drowned. We must also act."

"Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all-both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will become their new home."

Swing has also warned that anti-refugee sentiment could put the refugees' lives at risk.

"We're very disturbed at the widespread anti-migrant sentiment that can lead to xenophobia and risks to migrants," Swing said, noting, "The concern I have about a lot of statements that are being made on the public record right now is that it puts migrant lives at risk. All of our countries have always been open to new influx of people and it's always benefited us."

European authorities are struggling to tackle the massive refugee arrivals. Last week, the European Commission proposed a single EU border guard in an attempt to check the influx.

The developments also come as European countries reportedly remain divided over how to deal with refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict-hit zones in the Middle East and Africa. 

The leaders of several Balkan countries have repeatedly threatened to shut their borders if their northern EU neighbors refuse to accept refugees.

The influx of the refugees into Europe has largely been attributed to the Syrians fleeing a foreign-backed militancy in their country. Afghans, Iraqis and Eritreans constitute the other major groups of refugees.

Commenting on the refugee crisis, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in mid-September blamed Europe's refugee crisis on Western support for "terrorists".

In early September, Russian President Vladimir Putin also said that Western countries’ “flawed” foreign policy was to blame for Europe’s refugee crisis. 

The US and its regional allies such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and some other monarchies of the Persian Gulf states have widely been accused of supporting militant groups fighting to topple the Syrian government.

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