War and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have forced record numbers to flee their homes, fueling Europe's largest refugee and migrant crisis since World War Two.
Some 1.4 million people have headed to Europe in the last two years, triggering disputes between countries over how to handle the influx and boosting support for anti-immigration populists.
International Migrants Day falls on December 18; here are some facts on migrants and refugees:
- The number of international migrants has increased over the past 50 years to nearly 250 million in 2015, from about 79 million in 1960.
- International migrants - those living in a country that is different from their country or territory of birth - make up 3.3 percent of the world's population.
- At the end of 2015 there were 65.3 million forcibly displaced people. They included 21.3 million refugees, 40.8 million internally displaced and 3.2 million asylum seekers.
- One in every 113 people globally is either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced or a refugee.
- More than 4,700 migrants have died attempting treacherous sea journeys to Europe this year, the deadliest on record.
- Italy has become the top destination for those heading to Europe by boat, with more than 179,000 arrivals.
- Nine in 10 refugees are hosted in developing regions. Turkey has the largest number with more than 3 million refugees.
REUTERS
For more details, watch the full report in the video above