NEW DELHI: There is no doubt, the world is in the midst of a refugee crisis, with wars and conflict in large parts of West Asia, South Asia and Africa forcing millions of people to flee. Given the large numbers, the scale of the crisis can at times be difficult to fathom.
A useful visualisation buts the crisis into context. Check out Finnish site Lucify and the visualisation here.
“Europe is experiencing the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. Based on data from the United Nations, we clarify the scale of the crisis,” the initiative states.
The map shows the flow of asylum seekers to European countries over time. Each moving point on the map represents 25 people. That corresponds to approximately one busload with every other seat taken.
While routes and travel times aren't accurate, the map does show accurate migration patterns for refugees between 2012 and 2015.
Screenshots from the visualisation:
The data is also organised country by country, with a chart showing the monthly total refugees originating from and seeking asylum in different countries.
As the visualisation shows, only a fraction of refugees make it to Europe.
As the site points out, the majority of refugees fleeing their country for Europe are Syrian refugees. This year, the UN said that more than four million Syrians have fled the country’s civil war, with many now despairing whether they will ever be able to return to their home country.
Syria's civil war, now in its fifth year, has damaged much of the country's infrastructure and killed more than 220,000 people. Of the four million displaced, a large number are children, with the UNICEF saying that millions of Syrian children face a "high risk" of disease due to the scarcity of clean water and the scorching summer heat.
"The situation is alarming, particularly for children who are susceptible to water borne diseases," said Hanaa Singer UNICEF's Representative in Syria. "Water has become even more scarce and unsafe, and poor hygiene conditions especially among the displaced communities are putting more children at severe risk."
The conflict has prompted a refugee crisis of an unprecedented scale. By mid-2014, Syrians accounted for nearly one in four of the 13 million refugees worldwide being assisted by the UN refugee agency UNHCR -- the highest figure since 1996. Half the Syrian population has been displaced since March 2011 when the conflict began.