Over 870,000 Migrants Arrive in Europe by Sea in 2015

At least 878,495 migrants have reached European shores by sea this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – According to IOM, at least 3,548 people died or have gone missing while crossing the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe.

Greece has received the highest share of the migrant influx, with 752,941 arrivals, according to IOM. Italy has been the second most popular point of entry, registering 143,114 arrivals. While Spain received the third largest share of migrant arrivals, albeit the much lower number of 3,845 arrivals.

According to IOM, Greece, Serbia, Croatia, Italy and Hungary all experienced a decrease in migrant arrivals from the Middle East and North Africa this week compared to the previous week.

The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people leaving conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa for Europe. Over 1.2 million illegal border crossings have been detected by the EU border agency Frontex since the beginning of 2015.