In the final days of 2015, the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe by land and sea surpassed one million people for the year.
It marked the largest number in decades trying to find refuge and a new life on the continent.
The influx of people also caused the European Union to reassess its open-borders policy.
Peggy Giakoumelos looks back on the year.
Even before the weather had cleared early in the year, many migrants and asylum seekers were trying to enter Europe on flimsy vessels crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
In February, more than 300 people died trying to cross from Africa to Italy.
And by December, that number had jumped to more than 3,700 as people continued to risk death at sea for the chance to reach Europe.
The European director for the United Nations refugee agency, Vincent Cochetel, said the migrants were mostly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis just trying to cover their basic needs.
"I've been working 30 years with the UNHCR. I've visited many African countries, countries in Asia. I've never seen a situation like that. I've never seen a situation like that. This is the European Union, and this is totally shameful."
Greece bore the biggest burden, with the UNHCR saying, of the more than one million people who arrived in Europe in 2015, 800,000 entered through Greece.
One in four were children.
Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said from early on that Greece, struggling with its own economic recession, could not handle the migration crisis on its own.
(Translated) "At this moment, Greece is facing a crisis within a crisis. The flow (of migrants) is beyond what our state infrastructure can handle. If this is not dealt with at a European level, and there is no substantial help, you all understand that the situation is very hard to resolve."
The issue was, and continues to be, a contentious one for the European Union.
In May, the EU released a new plan aimed at stemming the influx of people.
Under the proposal, Germany would take the most people, followed by France and Italy.
German Interior Minister Thomas De Maiziere said he believed it was a sensible plan.
(Translated) "Germany will continue to face its responsibility towards vulnerable people, but there has to be fairness throughout Europe. And it's not asking for too much if we demand that everybody participates. And this proposal accounts for that."
As the year progressed, the numbers flowing into Europe at any one time increased.
Many tried to reach Germany via the passport-free "Schengen" zone with Hungary.
That eventually prompted Hungary to build a fence along its border with Serbia to keep out asylum seekers.
Critics reacted sharply, calling it an extension of the Hungarian government's anti-immigrant rhetoric.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said the government was building the fence to deter people without a visa from crossing into the European Union.
(Translated)"It can be clearly seen that the countries of the EU are searching for the answer to this challenge, and it can also be seen that the road to a joint answer seems very time-consuming and long, so Hungary cannot allow itself to wait any longer. Naturally, we hope there will be a joint European solution."
In September, a photograph became a symbol of the tragedy faced by the migrants and refugees.
The image of lifeless three-year-old Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi lying face down on a beach went viral and launched an international outcry for action.
In Turkey, Prime Minister Ahmed Davutoglu was criticising what he called the ridiculously small share of refugees the European Union was taking in.
The United Nations estimates Turkey's refugee population now numbers around 1.8 million.
Mr Davutoglu also lamented the reception the mainly Syrian refugees were getting once they reached Europe.
"Today in Europe, in many places, they are being seen as if they are criminals who have to go back to hell, rather than migrate to the prosperous heaven of Europe. I am sure, for all Syrian people, the real heaven is their own country, their home. They wouldn't leave their country if they were not forced to do so. They wouldn't go to the Aegean Sea to go to Europe if they were not being oppressed by a terrorist regime and by a terrorist group."
As the human tide continued to flow, international attention turned to the primary source of the humanitarian crisis, in the Middle East.
Arab League foreign ministers met in Cairo and defended their efforts to help amid criticism that Gulf nations had not taken in any refugees for four years.
Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Araby said he wanted to set the record straight.
(Translated)"Arab nations hosting refugees did not spare any effort to aid those refugees. We all know that Jordan and Lebanon have more than three million Syrian refugees, which surpasses the resources of these two countries. Also, Iraq, Egypt, Tunisia, Sudan, Algeria and other Arab nations have borne a lot with limited resources. Some Arab nations and Gulf states have presented much aid."
At year's end, Germany and Austria were reportedly working on a proposal for a common European asylum law.
It would involve a basic decision made at the hotspots where the migrants are gathered, a decision about whether someone needs protection or not.
Immigration analyst Dr Thom Brookes from Britain's Durham University, says the crisis will not relent in 2016.
With many European countries now reaching capacity and tolerance levels, Dr Brookes suggests the situation could also become much more difficult.
"It seems that it's not a temporary thing. I think that we're going to see some very high numbers next year as well. This is not a crisis that's about to go away. I don't see any taking up the leadership that Germany has had, and I don't think Germany is going to be welcoming with the same open arms next year the kinds of numbers we saw this year."
The United Nations says the number of people forcibly displaced worldwide in 2015 is likely to have far surpassed a record 60 million.
