A United Nations' top official in charge of migration said that the crisis rocking Europe needs a "global response" amid a warning from the European Union that the situation could last for years, ABC News reported on Tuesday.

"We should have a European response as part of a global response," UN special representative for migration and development Peter Sutherland told reporters in Geneva.

The call comes as the UN's refugee agency said it expected the number of asylum seekers fleeing across the Mediterranean to Europe to hit 400,000 this year and could be 450,000 or more in 2016.

Source: MENA