Arrivals of migrants and refugees in Europe so far in 2017 total more than 175 000, much lower than in 2016

By December 3, there had been 175 329 arrivals of migrants and refugees in Europe so far in 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

With a few weeks of 2017 left to go, this figure indicates that the total will be much lower than that for 2016, when there were 387 895 arrivals.

Of the total so far for 2017, 164 779 people arrived by sea and 10 550 by land, according to a regular report by IOM.

The total so far for this year of those dead or missing in the Mediterranean was 3086 by December 3, compared with a total of 5143 in 2016.

Separately, IOM reported figures for the January 1 to November 29 period, showing that of the 164 654 arrivals by sea in that period, a total of 117 042 were in Italy, 19 668 in Spain and 26 915 in Greece.

The figure for Greece was substantially down on the 2016 figure for the same period, which was 171 751.

However, the figure for Spain was significantly higher – in 2016, the total was 5445. The figure for Italy in that period of 2017 was down from 173 001 in January 1 to November 29 2016.

According to IOM, the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Bulgaria the week before last added up to four, and last week was 20.

(Archive photo: (c) Massimo Sestini for the Italian Navy, via UNHCR)

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