Migrant Arrivals Greece, Italy August 2016

On Monday a total of 6,500 migrants were rescued off the coast of Italy after setting sail from Africa. Migrants arriving on the European nation`s shores often come in waves, with many arriving when the weather is good and seas are calm.

This now brings the total number of arrivals to the country by boat to more than 110,000 during 2016, and over 400,000 have made the journey in the last 3 years.

Italy has been struggling to cope with the large amount of refugees and economic migrants and currently is housing at least 115,000 in temporary shelters and centers.

According to the IOM (International Organization for Migration) the main countries of origin for arrivals to Italy in July 2016 were Nigeria, Eritrea, Gambia, Ivory Coast and Sudan.

Greece is also starting to see an increase in migrant arrivals with 462 arriving between Monday and Tuesday morning, a marked increase on previous weeks, although far below 2015 levels.

The EU brokered a deal with Turkey to stem the flow of arrivals to Greece in exchange for aid and visa free travel for Turkish citizens. However the EU has yet to provide all of the aid and the visa free travel, citing concerns about human rights abuses in the country, this had lead Turkey to threaten to withdraw from the agreement if visa free travel is not granted by October.

Migrant Crisis in Europe Latest News June 2016

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.