At least 5,000 would-be migrants were killed attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2016 – more than in any other year, according to figures from the UN International Organization for Migration.
The organisation said that at least 363,348 people made the crossing – made from Italy to Greece during 2016 – but that at least 5,079 people were either killed or missing. The preliminary figures, released earlier this month, are expected to increase when fatalities from December last year are added to the total.
William Lacy Swing, director of the IOM, warned that the drownings would continue unless governments in the region find a way to manage migration comprehensively.
“Migrants and refugees aren’t coming because they believe their lives will be rescued at sea once they leave Africa or Syria or wherever conflicts drives people to seek safety,” he said.
“They’re leaving because they believe their lives will be doomed if they stay. The answer lies in finding creative means to permit safe, legal and secure migration, be that through work visas, family reunification or temporary protected status. Instead of doubling down on tactics that don’t work, let’s use this New Year to try something that’s actually new.”
Of those who made the crossing last year, 181,436 arrived in Italy – an 18 per cent increase on the year before – and the majority of deaths – at least 4,576 – occurred by those attempting to use this route – North Africa to Italy – across the central Mediterranean. A slightly lower figure – 173,561 – arrived in Greece, a figure which equates to only 20 per cent of the 2015 figure of 853,650. Some 434 deaths recorded along this route during 2016.
The deaths in the Mediterranean make up the majority of the 7,495 migrants and refugees estimated to have been killed around the world in 2016. The figure brings to 18,501 the total number who have died in the past three years, a statistic Ambassador Swing described as “shocking”.
“That’s 1,096 days, according to the calendar – or almost 20 deaths per day. And we don’t believe we are anywhere near counting all of the victims. We are past the time for counting. We must act to make migration legal, safe and secure for all.”
