African migrants continue to drown in the Mediterranean Sea en-route to Europe. File photo
from AHMED ZAYED in Tripoli, Libya
TRIPOLI, (CAJ News) – AT least 1 091 individuals have died in the Mediterranean Sea routes during attempts to cross to Europe since the beginning of the year.
The figure remains high despite statistics indicating the deaths are lower than those recorded during the same period last year when 2 137 people drowned.
This shows a 51 percent reduction.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) confirmed that as of the past weekend, 95 600 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea.
This is approximately an 8 percent decrease from the 104 535 arriving during the same period last year.
Greece and Spain are the main destination for migrants and refugees, accounting for about 79 percent of the total. The balance have arrived in much smaller numbers in Cyprus, Italy and Malta
Most migrants from Africa cross the Mediterranean by way of Libya.
IOM Libya has reported that through last week, 8 309 migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to the North African country in 2019.
IOM’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded the deaths of 34 028 people since the beginning of 2014 when migrations escalated.
“Due to the challenges of collecting information about these people and the contexts of their deaths, the true number of lives lost during migration is likely much higher,” a spokesperson stated.
– CAJ News