An estimated 9 million Syrians have

An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, taking refuge in neighbouring countries or within Syria itself. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 2.5 million have fled to Syria's immediate neighbours Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, under 100,000 have declared asylum in Europe with a small number offered resettlement by countries such as Germany and Sweden.

This website offers a snapshot of the repercussions of this refugee crisis for both Syria’s neighbours and the European Union. It is a project of the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute, based on a series of studies conducted by local researchers on behalf of the MPC at the end of 2012 and an update carried out in 2014. This website is the result of close collaboration between a team of journalists and these local researchers, under the auspices of the MPC, to paint a broad picture of the worst refugee crisis to affect the region in years.

This website also examines the role played by the European Union, both as a provider of humanitarian aid and as a home for refugees. While it is true that the EU is a leading contributor of humanitarian aid to the region, the amount donated by each of its 28 member states has varied greatly. Furthermore, the EU has not only received relatively few asylum requests as a result of the Syria crisis, in comparison to Syria’s neighbouring countries, but it has accepted even less for resettlement.

In contrast, absorbing the influx of refugees has been an enormous challenge for Syria’s neighbours, with strong implications for the stability of the entire region. We hope this website is an accessible way to better understand the crisis .