The discovery of a young migrant boy’s body on a Turkish beach has sparked an international outcry. Meanwhile, the UK is under increasing pressure to take in its fair share of migrants in order to ease the burden on other European countries. The Northern Echo answers some of the key questions arising from the crisis.

What has led to this problem?

An unprecedented surge in migrants arriving from the Middle East and North Africa. Conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria, as well as a repressive regime in Eritrea, are seen as major factors in what charities have described as the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. Ministers in the UK have claimed that a large proportion of the people arriving are "economic" migrants searching for work rather than fleeing persecution. A number of countries have come under strain - including Greece, Italy and Hungary.

How many people are arriving?

The EU's border agency Frontex said the number of migrants detected at EU borders in January to July stood at nearly 340,000. This was almost three times higher than the 123,500 recorded in the same period last year and already higher than the 280,000 detected in the whole of 2014. The true scale is likely to be higher as the figures do not include those passing into the continent undetected.

How many people have died trying to reach Europe?

A: The latest estimates suggest there have been more than 2,600 fatalities as migrants attempt to cross the Mediterranean, often in rickety, overcrowded boats.

What do we know about the young migrant boy whose body was pictured being recovered by police?

He was among a group of Syrian migrants who had set off from Turkey’s Bodrum peninsula for the Greek island Kos whose boats sank. Twelve bodies, including five children were recovered. The boy, named as three-year-old Aylan Kurdi, had fled with his family from the town of Kobane in Syria which is being besieged by militants from Islamic State.

Where else have there been problems in Europe?

Hundreds of migrants have massed at Hungary’s Keleti railway station as they attempt to cross into Germany. Some have been stranded for days, while there have also been clashes with the police. In France migrants have set up camp in Calais near to the entrance to the Channel Tunnel as they attempt to illegally enter the UK.

Where are the majority of these migrants coming from?

Syrians, Afghans and Eritreans are generally seen as making up the lion's share of the arrivals.

What routes do they take?

The three most common routes are known as the eastern Mediterranean, western Balkans or central Mediterranean, with 132,000, 102,000 and 91,000 illegal border crossings respectively in the first seven months of the year.

What about the UK’s position in all of this?

Prime Minister David Cameron has said it will “fulfil its moral obligations” after the Government was accused of a walk on by attitude in respect of people fleeing to Europe. Britain had the seventh highest number of asylum applications within the EU in the year to June, with 33,000 including dependents. Germany had almost eight times as many, with 259,000, followed by Hungary (93,000) and Sweden (78,000). Last year, the proportion of positive asylum decisions in Germany was 42 per cent, compared with 39 per cent in the UK.

How are migrants defined as opposed to refugees? What about asylum seekers?

A migrant, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is "one who moves, either temporarily or permanently, from one place, area, or country of residence to another".

According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is any person who "owing to a well-founded fear" of persecution is outside their country of nationality and "unable" or "unwilling" to seek the protection of that country. To gain the status one has to go through the legal process of claiming asylum. An asylum seeker therefore is someone waiting for a decision on whether refugee status can be granted.