Backgrounder: Refugee crisis in Europe

Europe is experiencing the most severe refugee crisis since the Second World War, with 80 percent of the refugees coming from Syria. Following are basic facts about the crisis.

-- REFUGEES IN EUROPE

According to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, up to 300,000 refugees, most of whom come from Syria, Libya and Iraq, arrived and traveled through Europe from January to August.

The majority of them have landed in Greece and Italy, with the former receiving more than 111,300 refugees and the latter around 30,000 Syrian refugees so far this year.

At least 850,000 more refugees are expected to cross the Mediterranean to arrive in Europe over the next two years, 400,000 of whom will arrive this year, and 450,000 or more in 2016, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The International Organization for Migration estimates that about 2,600 refugees died while trying to cross the Mediterranean, many of whom departed from Libya.

-- REFUGEES IN OTHER PLACES

Among the asylum seekers, more than 4 million came from Syria, a country torn by a civil war which broke out in 2011, with only 12 percent of them living in formal refugee camps.

Most of the Syrian refugees are taking refuge in Turkey (1,938,999), Lebanon (1,113,941), Jordan (629,266), Iraq (249,463), and Egypt (132,375).

-- CAUSES OF EUROPE'S REFUGEE CRISIS

Among other factors, the refugee crisis is mainly the making of some European countries and the United States through direct or indirect military interfering in other countries' affairs.

Most of refugees are from war-torn countries like Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq, where violence has been raging after Western intervention in their domestic affairs.

Their volatile situation has been compounded by widespread unemployment, inflation, a lack of daily necessities such as electricity and water, and a strong sense of insecurity.

People living in those countries hope to take refuge in neighboring countries or European countries for a better life.

Take Syria as an example. According to the UNHCR, an escalation of violence in Syria over the last few months together with a continued deterioration of living standards is continuing to drive thousands to flee their homes.

Violent conflicts between government troops and West-supported opposition forces have shown no sign of ending though they have lasted for years. The West has been pushing for a change of regime in the Middle East country.

-- RESPONSES OF WESTERN COUNTRIES, INT'L ORGANIZATIONS

Western countries are either engaged in horse-trading in the tally of refugees they are willing to take or adopting a wait-and-see approach to the issue.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven on Tuesday called for reforming the European asylum policy, which includes mandatory quotas for distributing refugees among the states of the European Union (EU).

Currently, Sweden and Germany are the countries in the EU that take in the largest share of refugees. The two countries are receiving around 60 percent of all refugees from Syria.

While Germany and Austria expect to receive 800,000 refugees and migrants this year, U.S. State Department spokesperson John Kirby has said the United States had planned to receive 1,500 refugees from Syria, which is far from enough given the fact that there is an exodus of 4 million refugees from the Middle East country.

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron also called for a "permanent and binding mechanism to ensure a fair distribution between Europe member states" to address the situation.

France plans to open its doors to some 24,000 Syrian refugees from camps in the Middle East over the next two years, while Britain pledged to host 20,000 asylum seekers by 2020. Britain has accepted 216 Syrian refugees under a scheme to relocate the most vulnerable starting in January 2014.

The Bulgarian government in June adopted a five-year national strategy on migration, asylum and integration. According to the strategy, Bulgaria hopes to turn migration and mobility into positive factors for economic and demographic development, and the fight against illegal migration and human trafficking.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has stressed that the large majority of people arriving in Europe are refugees fleeing war and violence, who have a right to seek asylum without any form of discrimination.

He also assured European leaders of the United Nations' readiness, through its agencies, to continue supporting their efforts to develop a response that is effective, feasible and in line with universal human rights and humanitarian standards, including the right to claim asylum.

The UN chief will host a high-level meeting on migration and refugees in New York on Sept. 30.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will meet later this month starting on Sept. 28. Several debates will surround the migrant crisis, including discussions on the need to reform the Dublin Regulations which set out rules for registering refugees and asylum seekers in the EU. Endi