Fewer migrants and refugees are making the journey to Europe but more are dying when they do.
More than 6,000 refugees were rescued off the Libyan coast over the weekend, bringing the global refugee crisis back to the forefront of the international community.
The majority of those rescued in a total of 40 different rescue operations were not Syrian — they were mostly from African nations. This is one of the things that has changed since last summer when the refugee crisis appeared to be at its peak.
Emilio Morenatti / AP
Fewer migrants are arriving in Europe and the originating countries of those who come to Europe have changed.
A member of the Italian Red Cross holding a child by the hand during a recent MOAS (Migrant Offshore Aid Station) operation in August.
Afp / AFP / Getty Images
Last year, Syrians refugees made up the significant majority of those making the dangerous crossing to Europe. In 2015, more than one million refugees arrived on Europe's shores.
This year, the number of refugees making the journey across the Mediterranean has gone down. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 284,572 migrants have arrived in Europe so far this year.
However, as the weekend's rescues show, increasingly people from African nations – such as Eritrea, Nigeria, Gambia, South Sudan, and Cote d'Ivoire – are making up the bulk of those attempting the perilous journey to Italy.
Aurélie Ponthieu, Médecins Sans Frontières' humanitarian adviser on displacement, who has watched and worked on the refugee crisis in Europe for since 2013, said the profiles of those traveling have also changed. "In the past we rarely had women, we almost never had children, or even babies. But now we see so many children, so many unaccompanied children," she told BuzzFeed News by telephone from Brussels.
The EU's controversial refugee swap deal with Turkey does appear to be making an impact on arrivals.
Alkis Konstantinidis / Reuters / A Syrian girl shortly after her arrival in Greece, 2015.
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