(VOVworld) – More than one million migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015, nearly half of them Syrians, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said Wednesday.

A refugee from Syria hugs her crying daughter moments after reaching the Greek Island of Lesvos from Turkey in an inflatable boat (photo:afp)

That was almost 5 times the 2014 total, when UNHCR recorded 219,000 arrivals via the perilous sea crossing. Among those attempting to reach Greece or Italy, 3,740 died or went missing.
The flood of refugees streaming into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa has triggered arguments and divisions within the EU. Several EU countries agreed to a mandatory migrant quota while others rejected their quotas as a burden on their economy.
The EU warns that the number of refugees will continue to increase if efforts to end the Syrian civil war fail.