Everything you need to know about the refugee crisis in Europe

European countries have covered a crisis of refugees, the flow of which has reached alarming proportions. Since the beginning of the year, according to the UN, about 330 thousands of refugees from countries in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan have crossed the border of the EU by sea and land.

As a rule, migrants arrive in Europe along three main routes: the western, central and eastern.

In the West, refugees penetrate from the territory of Morocco into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla, fenced off by a six-meter wall with barbed wire.

Central passes through Libya to the shores of Italy or to Malta. This route is used by Libyans, refugees from Eritrea, Somalia and Nigeria.

East earned not so long ago. Syrian and Afghan refugees arrive on this route, using the services of Greek and Turkish smugglers. Every day dozens, and recently hundreds of boats go out to sea from the vicinity of the city of Bodrum to the islands of Kos, Lesbos and Chios.

After Greece, refugees move to Macedonia, then to Serbia, then across the border to Hungary and then to the most socially protected and developed countries - Germany, the United Kingdom or Sweden.

Such a trip for refugees costs about one and a half thousand euros to Greece, about four thousand euros cost the road to Germany, twelve thousand - to Britain.

The issue of migrant distribution among EU countries first became acute in May 2015. Then European officials proposed solving the refugee issue through “quota distribution.” Ten EU countries - France, Great Britain, Spain, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia - criticized this idea.

The head of the Polish government, Eva Kopach, said that each country should decide how many migrants to accept, and the head of the Hungarian Cabinet Viktor Orban called the European Commission’s proposal completely insane.

Then the crisis was proposed to be resolved with the help of the new quota system, and many countries removed their objections. The exceptions were the Visegrad Four countries - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, whose position remained unmoved.

But the tragedy with a small three-year-old Syrian boy - Alan Kurdi, whose body swept across the Turkish coast with a wave - made a break in the discussion.

The photo of the dead child horrified Europe, and European leaders finally remembered the moral duty to the refugees.

Thus, the German authorities promised to speed up the asylum procedure and allocate additional funds to help refugees. It is expected that about 800 thousands of migrants will arrive in Germany this year.

Berlin also decided to transfer Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro to the list of “safe countries”, which essentially means the possibility of denying their citizens asylum in Germany.

Earlier, the German government announced the allocation of another six billion euros for the needs of refugees. A new refugee camp for about 150 thousands of people will be built in the country. Additional funds will be allocated to programs for the study of language and integration of migrants.

Britain announced its readiness to accept up to twenty thousand refugees from Syria in the next five years. But we are talking only about refugees housed in UN camps near the borders with Syria. Those who arrived on their own will not be accepted.

Since the beginning of the war in Syria, five thousand Syrians have received refugee status in Britain.

France is ready to accept thousands of refugees in the next two years 24.

Austria said it would not limit the number of migrants entering the country.

Hungary remains at the same position and has erected a barrier with barbed wire along the border with Serbia, from where refugees arrive in the country, and a bill on emergency measures to counteract migration has been submitted to the country's parliament. It is proposed to introduce a three-year term of imprisonment for people who illegally make their way into the country.

The prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia late last week in a joint statement rejected the idea of ​​quota admission of migrants by all EU member states and insisted on “preserving the voluntary nature of solidarity measures within the EU.”

In accordance with the plan, the most refugees will be Germany, France and Spain, followed by Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Belgium and Sweden.

Ранее it was reported that the US government decided to increase the contribution to the solution of this problem and to take in the country at least ten thousand refugees.