Crisis looms as a new wave of refugees reaches Europe

High arrivals, tighter borders and pressure on Greece where many are stranded prompt warnings of a looming crisis.

In Greece, many refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are sleeping rough and have to queue for hours for food

The number of refugees flowing into Europe has soared in the first two months of the year amid tighter borders and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, prompting warnings from agencies and rights groups of a "looming humanitarian crisis".

On Tuesday, the UNHCR said that 131,724 people made the journey across the Mediterranean during January and February, with 122,637 refugees landing in Greece. "This is approaching the total for the first half of 2015, [when] 147,209 [arrived]," said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards.


READ MORE: Why is Europe closing its borders to Afghans?

At least 418 refugees died on their way to Europe in the first two months of the year, compared with 428 in the same period last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

IOM estimated that of the 321 who died on the Eastern Mediterranean route, which ends in Greece, 77 were children – an average exceeding one child death per day. Many predicted the number of refugees would rise to a new record in 2016. In 2015, more than one million refugees fled to Europe by sea.

The IOM said: "With ten months [of 2016] left, it now appears likely that last year's total will be surpassed, possibly before the end of the summer."

Restricted borders

Last Wednesday, in a bid to stem the flow, Austria and nine Balkan states agreed to grant entry only to those "in proved need of protection" a move which sharply reduced the intake and effectively excluded refugees from Afghanistan, a country where civilian casualties reached a record 11,000 in 2015.

The decision triggered desperate scenes in Greece as refugees trying to move on to other European countries were faced with tighter controls. Up to 25,000 refugees are stranded in Greece, and immigration minister Yannis Mouzalas says that number could rise to 70,000 in March.
 
"Europe is on the cusp of a largely self-induced humanitarian crisis," UNHCR's Edwards added. "This is in light of a rapid build-up of people in an already struggling Greece, with governments not working together despite having already reached agreements in a number of areas, and country after country imposing new border restrictions.