Refugees taking shelter in Europe may rise to 850,000 by the end of 2016: UN

By NewsGram Staff-Writer

Geneva: United Nations (UN) on Tuesday said that the number of refugees who are coming to Europe after crossing the Mediterranean could reach a total of 850,000 by the end of 2016.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in its appeal document said that a total of 400,000 people are expected to seek asylum in 2015 out of which around 366,000 people have already landed in Europe. Another 450,000 people or more may land in Europe in 2016, according to a report in the Times of India.

The UNHCR added that many of the refugees are from Syria who are fleeing because of the fighting in the country and the deteriorating conditions for refugees in the neighboring countries.

Calling for a more cohesive asylum policy to accept the coming refugees, the UNHCR has appealed for an increase in the number of ways in which refugees are legally accepted into various European countries.

The executive commission of the European Union (EU) is likely to start a program this week to redistribute around 160,000 refugees who land in Italy, Hungary, and Greece, as per TOI report.