page_title: Timeline of the European migrant crisis
section_title: October 2015
hierarchical_section_title: Timeline of the European migrant crisis / 2015 / October 2015
caption_attribution_description: Slovenščina: Slovenska vojska pri reševanju migrantske situacije z več zmogljivostmi.
context_page_description: This is a timeline of the European migrant crisis from 2004 to the present. It lists migrant boat shipwrecking events from 2004 to 2015. From 2015 to the present, it also lists events connected with land migration and countries' political reactions related to the European migrant crisis.
context_section_description: 7 October: The EU began a new operation in the southern Mediterranean to intercept boats smuggling migrants. Under Operation Sophia, naval vessels will be able to board, search, seize and divert vessels suspected of being used for people smuggling. Until then, the EU had focused on surveillance and rescue operations.
  15 October: The European Council backed an action plan with Turkey to ease the flow of migrants to Europe. The leaders agreed to speed up visa liberalization talks for Turks if Turkey stems the influx and to renew talks on Turkey joining the EU. The Turkish foreign minister said the deal was a draft and had not yet been agreed upon.
  16 October: Hungary announced that it had completed a fence along its 348 km (216 mi) border with Croatia and would close the border at midnight. This forced migrants to divert to Slovenia. However, Slovenia, with a population of only two million, stated that it would only be able to admit 2,500 people per day, stranding thousands of migrants in Croatia.
  16 October: An Afghan migrant was shot dead by a Bulgarian border guard near the town of Sredets after entering the country illegally from Turkey. The man was among a group of about 50 Afghans. Bulgarian officials said a warning shot was fired after the migrants resisted arrest and that the man was killed by the ricochet.
  17 October: At least 12 migrants, including five children, drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Ayvacık, Turkey.
  22 October: Slovenia called for help from the EU after more than 12,600 migrants, many fleeing Syria, arrived in Slovenia in just 24 hours.
  25 October: The heads of 11 EU states and three non-EU states held an emergency summit in Brussels to discuss the migrant crisis. It was agreed that 100,000 more spaces would be made in refugee centres and that 400 police officers would be sent to Slovenia to help cope with the inflow. It was reported that more than 9,000 migrants arrived in Greece every day over the foregoing week.
caption: Arrival of migrants in Dobova, Slovenia, 22 October 2015
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