The migrant crisis has fast become one of the most important issues in European politics. More than 1 million migrants came ashore last year, straining the Schengen free movement area to breaking point, with many countries erecting walls and applying border countrols in order to have some semblance of control.
The migrant crisis was initially focused on Italy with desperate migrants fleeing poverty and war in Africa, Syria and Iraq. However after german chancellor Angela Merkel announced that migrants could obtain refuge in Germany the flood gates opened, with thousands arriving daily on the Greek Islands from Turkey, a much shorter and safer journey than the one from Libya to Italy.
With the recent deal between Turkey and the EU migrant arrivals in Greece have been largely curtailed, however as many predicted this has lead to a new surge of arrivals in Italy, with 15,000 migrants arriving in just one week at the end of April.
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