Refugee Crisis In Europe Explained Through Infographics Laying Bare Current Situation

6 Infographics That Lay Bare The Brutal Reality Of Europe's Refugee Crisis
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The continuing European migration crisis is beginning to reach an inflection point with fears thousands of refugees may freeze to death as winter draws near.

Debate is still raging about how best to handle the 250,000 people currently moving through the continent having been displaced by instability and conflict across the Middle East and Africa.

Here are five infographics that will get you up to speed on developments...

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How 120,000 Refugees Will Be Resettled In Europe

In September, a majority of interior ministers voted to relocate 120,000 refugees across the European Union over a two-year period.

But the logistics facing states taking in refugees remain challenging, though the plan has been criticised over relatively low numbers involved.

Click here to view a zoomable version of this graph made by Statista

The UK was among the countries to exercise its right to 'opt-out' alongside Denmark and Ireland.

Where Refugees Seek Asylum

The latest data from UNHCR finds that asylum seekers are more likely to lodge applications in almost every European nation but Britain.

There were 19,176 applications received by Britain in the six months to July 2015, compared with 221,933 received by Germany.

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Click here to view a zoomable version of this graph made for HuffPost UK by Statista

The statistics also suggest that those arriving in Hungary and Serbia and Kosovo are applying for asylum in their thousands, despite some reports to the contrary.

Where Refugees In The UK Come From

The chart below shows the the origin countries of the 19,196 people who claimed asylum in the UK from January to July of 2015.

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Click here to view a zoomable version of this graph made for HuffPost UK by Statista

A 2015 UN report (PDF) on Eritrea found widespread evidence of human rights violations in the country committed "under the authority of the government".

Two million people are believed to have lost their lives due to civil war and famine in Sudan since 1983.

Pakistan continues to face frequent gun and bomb attacks that have claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people over the last decade.

Women, ethnic and religious minorities, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons all face persecution in the majority Shia Muslim theocratic republic of Iran.

Since the start of Syria's brutal civil war in 2012, up to 330,000 civilians have been killed and millions more displaced and forced to flee their homes.

Afghanistan continues to be ravaged by sectarian violence as western-backed government forces fight a 14-year-long Taliban insurgency.

Albania suffers from extreme poverty, Nigeria faces a sustained insurgency, Sri Lanka remains divided following civil war, and Iraq continues to be destabilised.

How The UK Felt About Those Fleeing War Last Year

A Gallup poll conducted last year found many Britons were accepting of refugees from war-torn nations.

Close to 45 percent of respondents said they were "sympathetic" to those fleeing war, while 18 percent were "very sympathetic".

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Click here to view a zoomable version of this graph made by Statista

The survey involved just over 1,000 respondents aged 18 or older and took place in November 2014.

Where Syrians Are Going In Europe

In the six months to July 2015, Syrians were more likely to lodge asylum applications in Serbia and Kosovo, Germany and Hungary.

Some 65,763 Syrians recorded applications in Serbia and Kosovo, 49,368 lodged applications in Germany, while 46,195 did so in Hungary.

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Click here to view a zoomable version of this graph made for HuffPost UK by Statista

The UK ranked a dismal 15th in the table based on applications received. Just 1,314 Syrians chose Britain for asylum.

This Is How The Situation Has Changed Over Time

This stunning visualisation portrays how those fleeing unstable nations have moved into Europe over the past 18 months.

The moving streams represent refugees flowing into northern and western Europe from southern and eastern states drawing from data collated by the UN Refugee Agency.

Numbers That Show There's Much More To Do To Help Syrian Refugees
45% of Syrians forced out of their homes(01 of08)
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More than 10 million Syrians have been forced out of their homes due to the conflict, becoming either “internally displaced” or fleeing altogether, according to Amnesty International. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
7.6 million Syrians are displaced within the country(02 of08)
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The UNHCR’s latest figures show the crisis is getting worse. More than 7.6m Syrians have been displaced within the country by the conflict, fleeing to safer areas. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
3.8 million have sought refuge in other countries(03 of08)
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By December 2014, 3.8 million Syrians had fled the country altogether. They sought refuge in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. A sizeable proportion then make the perilous journey to Europe.
These numbers may well have increased since the last count, given the advance of Isis and the continued battle between rebel groups and pro-government forces.
(credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
33 applications supported by the UN accepted by Gulf nations(04 of08)
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The Gulf Cooperation Council's oil-rich states of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates accept very few refugees and asylum seekers from Syria.
Since 2011, the UNHCR has supported 63 Syrians with asylum applications in the countries – but just 33 were accepted, despite the UN's support.
Amnesty International has called Gulf states’ contribution “shocking”, the states themselves say they are providing thousands of visitor visas for Syrians, but also protecting against the threat of Islamist extremist attacks.
(credit:Buena Vista Images via Getty Images)
5,000 Syrians taken in by Britain since 2011(05 of08)
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Full Fact reports that Britain has granted asylum to just under 5,000 Syrians in the initial decision made on their applications since 2011.
In addition, 216 Syrian refugees have been resettled in the UK.
Resettlement includes transferring refugees from Syria to the UK – whilst a person has to be in a country to claim asylum there.
(credit:shutterstock)
0.17% of Syrian refugees offered places to resettle in Europe (asides from Germany)(06 of08)
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Aside from Germany, the other 27 EU nations have pledged just 6,305 places to Syrians to resettle, last year. That’s 0.17% of the number of refugees that have fled Syria.
While EU nations are likely to significantly increase the number of resettlement places this year – Germany still takes a lion’s share of those seeking refuge.
(credit:Jean Claude Meignan via Getty Images)
2.2% of Syrian refugees offered places to resettle this year(07 of08)
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Amnesty International says that – by June 2015 – only 2.2% of Syrian refugees have been offered places to resettle by the international community. That’s less than 90,000.
And money is short too. “The UN’s humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees was only 23% funded as of the 3 June,” it wrote.
(credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
145 countries signed the Refugee Convention(08 of08)
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In 1951, 145 nations ratified the Refugee Convention governing the treatment of those fleeing persecution.
Yet just a fraction of these have offered to help so far.
(credit:SuperStock via Getty Images)