A planned refugee home in Sweden was torched in a suspected arson attack, police said today, the latest incident related to Europe's migrant crisis.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in Eskilstuna, 90km west of Stockholm, around 12 midnight Irish time, however the building was almost totally destroyed.

Police have launched an arson inquiry into the attack on the building, a former holiday camp, which had been set to house around 60 people seeking asylum in Sweden.

The incident adds to around a dozen similar attacks since the start of the year and came a day after a man armed with a sword killed two people in a racist attack at a Swedish school with many immigrant students.

"If it's because of the fact that some people think this type of lodging should not exist - then that's really terrible," local official Tryggve Lundh said of the migrant hostel fire on Swedish radio.

Sweden, a country of 9.8 million, expects to receive up to 190,000 asylum applications this year - putting it among the EU states with the highest proportion of refugees per capita as the bloc struggles with a massive influx of migrants.

Support for the far right has grown as Sweden's ability to house and integrate the new arrivals comes under strain.

Anti-immigration attitudes have been rising across Europe, as more than 600,000 migrants and refugees - most fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan - have made the dangerous journey to the continent this year, according to the UN.

Greece sees record 48,000 migrant arrivals in past five days

Meanwhile, Greece has seen a record 48,000 migrants and refugees land on its shores in the space of just five days, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

"Despite deteriorating weather conditions, approximately 48,000 refugees and migrants crossed from Turkey to the Greek islands, or about 9,600 migrants and refugees in each of the past five days," the IOM said in a statement, referring to the period between 17 October and 21.

The number of arrivals peaked on Tuesday when nearly 11,000 people landed on the Greek islands, the organisation said.

"The influx has left many local authorities unprepared," the IOM added.

More than half of those crossing from Turkey had landed on the island of Lesbos, which saw 27,276 arrivals during the five-day period, it said.

The island of Chios recorded 9,750 arrivals over the same period.

In previous years, the numbers crossing the Mediterranean to Europe have dropped off sharply as winter approaches, but the IOM said the recent arrivals far exceeded the summer peaks.

Chios, which had only been receiving some 300 migrants a day during the summer period, was last week taking in around 2,000 a day, it said.

They are among more than 600,000 people, mainly fleeing violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, who have braved the dangerous sea journey to Europe so far this year.

The rising numbers of people attempting the crossing to Greece has resulted in a growing number of deaths at sea, the organisation said.

Since Monday, 18 migrants and refugees are believed to have died in two separate incidents.

So far this year, around 335 people have died while crossing from Turkey to Greece, the IOM said.

More than 2,800 have meanwhile perished attempting the much longer and more perilous crossing from Libya to Italy, bringing the total number of deaths to 3,175, the IOM said.