Missing Migrants Project says worldwide deaths increased by 28% this year, Mediterranean sees 67% increase in fatalties
International migration is becoming increasingly unsafe this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a briefing published last week.
You can read the briefing here.
Across the globe, IOM's Missing Migrants Project recorded a 28% increase in migrant deaths and disappearances in the first six months of 2016 compared with the first six months of 2015.
While IOM acknowledges that it is nearly impossible to know the precise number of people who die during irregular migration, and particularly at sea, it recorded more than 3,700 deaths in the first half of 2016.
According to the briefing, the increase in deaths this year can be attributed to a higher number of recorded migrant fatalities in the Mediterranean Sea, North Africa, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
The Mediterranean Sea continues to account for the majority of deaths and disappearances during the process of migration. Of the recorded deaths from January to June 2016, 78% (2,901) were in the Mediterranean.
The briefing notes that this year has seen a large increase in deaths in the Mediterranean, stating: "The first half of 2016 saw a 67 per cent increase in the number of recorded deaths and disappearances across the Mediterranean Sea, compared to the same period in 2015. Although the Eastern Mediterranean has seen a decline in the number of reported deaths following the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, the large number of fatalities in both the Central and Western Mediterranean meant that by mid-year 2016, 1,161 more deaths and disappearances were recorded in the region than for the same period in 2015. The following sections provide context for this escalating humanitarian crisis by discussing the increased number of deaths on the Eastern, Central and Western Mediterranean routes. The number of fatalities would have been much higher, had it not been for the increasing efforts to support search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean region. Over the past three years, hundreds of thousands of people have been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea."
According to IOM, the high rate of death in the Central Mediterranean compared to other routes is due to two main factors: the significantly longer overseas journey; and more dangerous smuggling strategies. Crossing from North Africa to Italy via the Central Mediterranean is a journey of several hundred kilometres, compared to the dozen or so required to travel the eastern or western routes.
Reuters reported yesterday that the Italian coastguard had rescued almost 10,000 migrants in two days, marking a sharp acceleration in refugee arrivals in Italy.
On Monday, some 6,500 people were rescued at sea.
According to VOA News, many of the refugees were from Eritrea and Somalia, although large numbers also originated from West Africa.
Nicholas Papachrysostomou, field coordinator for a rescue ship operated by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), told VOA that the scale was unprecedented.
"All together, the number is awe-inspiring … In the history of search and rescue operation in the central Mediterranean, I don't think we've ever seen this figure on one single day," Papachrysostomou said.
According to Reuters, around 105,000 migrants and refugees have reached Italy by boat so far 2016, many of them crossing from Libya.