MOSCOW (Sputnik) – A record number of 137,000 refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe in 2015, fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East, the UN Refugee Agency said in a new report released Wednesday.
The majority of the refugees arrived in Europe from Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea, the agency said.
"As Europe debates the best way to deal with the rising crisis on the Mediterranean, we must be clear: most of the people arriving by sea in Europe are refugees, seeking protection from war and persecution," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.
Europe is scrambling for a solution to the ongoing migrant crisis.
Earlier in June, EU foreign ministers agreed to launch a naval mission to combat gangs of human traffickers which operate in the Mediterranean.
