Read the given passage and fill in the blanks with the most appropriate options.
Comprehension:
The refugees coming by boat to Italy have already set a record this year. The surge (1)______ partly from the civil war in Syria, which has forced 3 million people to (2)______ their homeland. Europe, peaceful, affluent and comparatively close- is a preferred (3)______. It's where the desperate meets the developed. Often with the aid (4)______ reckless human traffickers, refugees attempt to cross the waters in rubber dinghies that can (5)______, plunging the occupants into the sea.