Justice and Home Affairs Council majority vote to
relocate 120,000 refugees (including Syrian refugees) from Greece and Italy to other EU countries: In August 2012, the first Syrian refugees migrated by sea to the
European Union. Under the
Dublin Regulation, an asylum applicant in one EU country, must be returned to that country, should they attempt onward migration to another EU country. Hungary is overburdened in 2015 by asylum applications during the
European Migrant Crises, to the point that on 23 June its refuses to allow further applicants to be returned by other EU countries. Germany and the Czech Republic suspend the Dublin Regulation for Syrians and start to process their asylum applications directly. On 21 September, EU home affairs and interior ministers approve a plan to accept and redistribute 120,000 asylum seekers (not only Syrians) across the EU. The
Czech Republic,
Hungary,
Romania and
Slovakia opposed the plan and
Finland abstains. Poorer countries express concerns about the economic and social cost of absorbing large numbers of refugees. Wealthier countries are able to offer more humanitarian assistance. The largest numbers are recorded in Germany with over 89,000, and Sweden with over 62,000. More than 100,000 refugees cross into the EU in July 2015, and by September over 8,000 refugees crossed to Europe daily, with Syrians forming the largest group. By 21 December 2015, an estimated 500,000 Syrian refugees have entered Europe, 80 percent arrived by sea, and most land in Greece. On 19 February 2016, Austria imposes restrictions on the number of refugee entries. Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia announced that just 580 refugees a day will be allowed through their borders. As a result, large numbers of Syrian refugees are stuck in Greece. There are fears that Greece won't be able to cope with the thousands stranded in the reception centres scattered across the mainland and the islands of
Lesbos,
Kos and
Chios.
By country '''''' – In 2015, there were at least 18,000 estimated Syrian refugees in Austria. In 2018, there were 48,103 Syrian nationals residing in Austria. '''''' – Bulgaria welcomes refugees when in transit to Germany to apply for refugee status. Bulgaria received 11,080 asylum applications in 2014, 56% of which were made by Syrian citizens and on which 94.2% of first instance decisions were positive for Syrian citizens, making it the country with the highest acceptance rate in the EU. For the period of January–July 2015, there were estimated 9,200 asylum applications to Bulgaria with average acceptance rate remaining the same as in the previous year. In August 2013, there is a sharp increase in refugees entering
Bulgaria. Bulgarian refugee centers are at capacity and the government seeks emergency accommodations and asks the
EU and
Red Cross for aid. '''''' – In October, the UN's human rights chief claims the
Czech Republic is holding migrants in "degrading" and jail like conditions '''''' – Croatia welcomes refugees when in transit to Germany to apply for refugee status. In addition, Croatia, an EU member state, shares land border with Serbia, therefore there is a risk of strong inflow of migrants from Serbia considering that
Hungary erected a fence on its border with Serbia. Nearly 80% of the border consist of Danube river, but the problem is 70 kilometers long so-called "Green Border" near
Tovarnik. According to the Croatian Minister of Interior
Ranko Ostojić "police in the area has enough people and equipment to protect Croatian border against illegal immigrants". Croatian President
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović and First Deputy Prime Minister
Vesna Pusić rejected option of building a fence on Croatian border with Serbia. On 15 September 2015, Croatia started to experience the first major waves of refugees of the Syrian Civil War. "First Syrian refugees cross Croatia-Serbia border, carving out potential new route through Europe after Hungary seals borders". Croatia closed its border with Serbia on 19 October 2015 due to "overwhelming numbers". – In 2024 Cyprus had 30,000 Syrian refugees under
subsidiary protection. '''''' – In September 2015 public concerns remained about the arrival of refugees, and was shifting to concern over the immediate issues revolving around those already in Denmark. '''''' – In November 2015, President
François Hollande reaffirmed France's commitment to accept 30,000 refugees over two years, despite concerns arising from the
November 2015 Paris attacks a few days earlier. His announcement drew a standing ovation from a gathering of French mayors. , Germany on 6 January 2016 following the aftermath of the
New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany. '''''' – In 2013, Germany received 11,851 asylum requests by Syrians, in 2014 the number more than tripled to 39,332. The German Federal Minister of the Interior estimated in March 2015, that some 105,000 Syrian refugees have been accepted by Germany. By June 2015, 161,435 Syrians resided in Germany, of which 136,835 had entered after January 2011. After suspending the Dublin rules for Syrian refugees, the numbers increased to the point of stressing Germany's infrastructure and logistics capabilities. From January to July 2015, the Federal office for migration and refugees received 42,100 requests for asylum. By the end of 2015, the figure had reached 158,657. 96% of the asylum requests were approved. German Chancellor
Angela Merkel said that "The fundamental right to asylum for the politically persecuted knows no upper limit; that also goes for refugees who come to us from the hell of a civil war." Even though her government decided to let all Syrians enter the country, they temporarily had to stop train travel to/from Austria to control the high numbers arriving. At
Munich's main railway station, thousands of Germans applauded Syrians as they arrived in September. The German police force announced on 22 October 2015 that they had prevented a planned attack on a refugee home in
Bamberg by a right-wing extremist group. They also said there had been nearly 600 attacks on refugee homes in 2015, a sharp rise from 2014. As well, 19–39,000 (depending on estimates) of members of the German right-wing
Pegida movement rallied on 19 October 2015 in
Dresden against accepting refugees. Some 14–20,000 other individuals held a counterrally in the city. Angela Merkel's openness towards refugees was criticized and 61% of respondents in an INSA poll reported they were less happy about accepting refugees after the assaults. In September, German customs seized packages of fake Syrian passports which police suspect are being sold to non-Syrians seeking asylum in Germany. In April 2020, two former high-ranking members of the Syrian Army went on trial in
Koblenz,
Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, for alleged war crimes committed during the Syrian Civil War. This was the first time that Syrian military officials are being prosecuted for their roles in the conflict. By the end of 2022, 1,016,000 Syrian migrants lived in Germany. '''''' – Greece welcomes refugees when in transit to Germany to apply for refugee status. In 2015, there were 385,525 arrivals by sea. as most are in transit further into Europe. The Greek government sought to use the refugee crisis to extract additional
economic aid from the
EU with poor results. 15,000–17,000 refugees had landed on Lesbos island by September 2015, overwhelming the resources and generosity of local residents. Many refugees also make landfall at
Agathonisi,
Farmakonisi,
Kos,
Lemnos,
Leros,
Rhodes,
Chios,
Samos,
Symi,
Kastellorizo and other islands near Turkey. Some arrive via the
Evros border crossing from Turkey. On 19 February 2016 Austria imposed restrictions on the number of refugees entering the country followed by Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and North Macedonia, of just 580 arrivals a day. As a result, large numbers of Syrian refugees and migrants from other countries are stuck in Greece. Given that 2 – 3,000 migrants arrive in Greece every day, these 100,000 spaces look inadequate. On 18 June 2016,
UN chief
Ban Ki-moon praised Greece for showing "remarkable solidarity and compassion" towards refugees and he also called for international support. After the
2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt in July 2016, Greek authorities on a number of
Aegean Islands have called for emergency measures to curtail a growing flow of refugees from Turkey, the number of migrants and refugees willing to make the journey across the
Aegean has increased noticeably. At Athens officials voiced worries that Turkish monitors overseeing the deal in Greece had been abruptly pulled out after the failed coup with little sign of them being replaced. The
Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE) warned about the prospect of another flare-up in the refugee/migrant crisis due to the Turkish political instability. , 4 September 2015 '''''' – Hungary welcomes refugees when in transit to Germany to apply for refugee status. In the summer of 2015, Hungary was deeply affected by the migration crisis. The government believes that "illegal migrants" are job-seekers, threats to security and likely to "threaten our culture". There have been cases of immigrants and ethnic minorities being attacked. The country has conducted wholesale deportations of refugees, who are generally considered to be allied with
ISIL. Refugees are outlawed and almost all are ejected. '''''' – In 2013, the UNHCR estimates that more than 4,600 refugees arrive in Italy by sea, two-thirds of whom arrive in August. , 24 August 2015 '''''' – North Macedonia welcomes refugees if they do not stay permanently within the country and instead go to Germany to apply for refugee status. In summer of 2015, North Macedonia becomes one of the most affected European countries by migration crisis, along with Hungary, Serbia, Italy and Greece. '''''' – The government condemned the fire bombing of an immigrant reception centre in October 2015. In the small town of Geldermalsen, over 2,000 protested immigration in mid December 2015. '''''' – Norway has announced it will accept 8,000 refugees from Syria under the
UN quota system by the end of 2017. '''''' –Poland has accepted 150 mostly Christian refugees. Various centre right, far right, and conservative parties won parliamentary elections on platforms demanding a halt to refugee quotas. '''''' – The
European Commission asked Romania to accept 6,351 refugees under an EU quota scheme.
Bloomberg News reported that "Romania's government will call on the EU to grant its citizens equal access to the visa-free
Schengen area if the bloc's leaders impose mandatory quotas on its members to shelter refugees." '''''' – The Russian government gave $24 million for refugees and granted asylum to over 1,000. About 5,000 refugees have settled in Russia since 2012. Five hundred Christian refugees settled in Sochi.
Circassians in Syria have been returning to their historic homelands in Circassia. The
Chechen and
Ossetian diasporas in Syria have also sought to return to their Caucasus homelands. '''''' – Serbia welcomes refugees when in transit to western Europe to apply for refugee status. In August 2015,
Vučić said that Serbia will do anything to help these people on their way to better life. He promised more toilets for them, blankets, food and announced opening of the temporary reception centre in Belgrade during winter months. He also drew comparisons between the Syrian refugees and Croatian Serb refugees "who also had to leave their homes 20 years ago", positing that because Serbs suffered then, they understand the problems that the refugees face. , 23 October 2015 '''''' – Originally, Slovenia welcomed refugees when in transit to Germany to apply for refugee status. As of September 2015, however, Slovenia has reportedly considered housing "up to 10,000" refugees, as well as creating new passageways through the country for refugees in response to increasing tensions at its border with Croatia. '''''' – Slovakia has refused to accept refugees from Turkey (who are nearly all Syrians), although in December 2015 it did voluntarily accept 500 asylum seekers on a temporary basis and 149 Assyrian Christian families who came via Iraq The Slovak government has threatened lawsuits against the EU because of the controversial refugee quota system which requires Slovakia to accept just under 2,300 migrants. '''''' – In September 2013, Sweden becomes the first EU country to grant permanent residency to all asylum seekers, and the right to family reunification, in light of worsening conditions in Syria. Roughly 8,000 Syrian refugees in Sweden are affected by the ruling. The decision was welcomed by the Syrian Arabian Cultural Association of Sweden, but they also warned that it may be a boon for
people-smuggling operations and lead to political controversy. In September 2013, Swedish migration authorities ruled that all asylum seekers will be granted permanent residency and the right to bring their families as well. Sweden is the first EU-country to make this offer. 9,755 in 2013, summing up to a total increase of 31,525 refugees during this period. Additionally, another 9,028 Syrians settled in Sweden on grounds of family reunification. Moreover, during this period, Sweden has received over 10,000 stateless persons, many of whom are refugees that previously resided in Syria. After 2015 the number of Syrian asylum seekers decreased drastically, totaling 5,459 in 2016, 4,718 in 2017, and 1,040 as of May 2018. '''''' – In March 2012, the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights made a request to Switzerland to accept some Syrian refugees, and the Swiss government announced that it was considering the request. In March 2015, the
Swiss Federal Council set a goal of accepting 3,000 Syrian refugees over three years. By September 2015, 5,000 Syrian refugees had received provisional permission to live in Switzerland, and an additional 2,000 had submitted asylum applications and were pending. of whom 216 have been actively resettled. The stance of its government has been severely criticised by human rights groups. In September, the government announced plans to accept 20,000 refugees over a period of 5 years, taken from refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. In May 2015, a
YouGov poll commissioned by British charity
Islamic Relief showed that 42% of respondents said Britain should not take in foreign nationals fleeing conflict or persecution in their own countries, up sharply on 2014. The poll also showed that terrorism was associated with Muslims, with the words "terror", "terrorist" or "terrorism" chosen by 12% of respondents, ahead of other options like faith (11%), mosque (9%), Koran (8%) and religious (8%). Prime Minister David Cameron described Syrian refugees coming to the UK as a "swarm", and later said he would not "allow people to break into our country". The Foreign Secretary also said refugees were "marauding" around
Calais. Amnesty International and opposition party leadership have criticized these statements by the government. On 4 September 2015, Cameron pledged that the UK would accept "thousands" more Syrian refugees. Wimbledon
UKIP candidate Peter Bucklitsch, sparked online outrage amongst Twitter users on 3 September 2015 when he stated deceased Syrian refugee child
Alan Kurdi was "well clothed & well fed", and blamed his parents for the death. He stated Aylan died because his parents were "greedy for the good life in Europe". High-profile figures such as Liberal Democrat leader
Tim Farron denounced the remarks. He apologised online the next day. A statement a day later contained an apology from Buckslitsch. He described his tweet as "inelegant" and stated that blaming parents was probably "not ... the best response." In November 2018, A sixteen year old youth was shown on video
assaulting a Syrian refugee in a playground attack in
Almondbury Community School,
West Yorkshire. ==In North America==