BACK in May this year, we published a flow diagram tracking European asylum applications from countries of origin through to the acceptance and rejection rates of each destination nation sought. At the time, signals that the refugee crisis was intensifying were becoming increasingly evident as reports of migrants drowning in attempted crossings of the Mediterranean Sea escalated. Few predicted how bad the crisis would look four months on however. Today, as hundreds of thousands knock at Europe’s door—straining the ability of countries to accept them—we have produced an updated and interactive iteration of our original data visualisation to re-assess the sheer volume of the crisis across the region (select a country above to highlight individual flows).

Front-line European Union countries, such as Italy and Hungary, have been overwhelmed recently. An initial quota system for redistributing asylum-seekers from the borders to the rest of Europe (agreed in July) proved inadequate, and a new, much larger system proposed by Germany was approved this week. Though the south-east EU countries are dealing with incredibly high volumes, Germany’s size and welcoming reputation means they are bearing the brunt of the influx. Germany has been stricter than other European countries, rejecting migrants from the Balkans almost categorically while still opening its doors to those fleeing conflicts in Syria and Iraq. Still, more than 300,000 are waiting for a decision from Berlin—more than half of all outstanding asylum applications in Europe. No wonder they are desperate to share the burden.