More than 2,200 people died or went missing at sea attempting to cross the Mediterranean into Europe in the first half of this year – a figure which the UN refugee agency says is down on the previous year but still “alarmingly high”.
Figures published by UNHCR in a new report, Desperate Journeys, show that an estimated 2,253 people died or went missing at sea while at least 40 died on land routes or near European borders.
The data shows that the overall number of Mediterranean crossings fell sharply in the first half of 2017, thanks largely to a 94 per cent decline in the number of people using the sea route from Turkey into Greece. Crossings from North Africa to Italy, however, have remained at largely the same level.
It shows some 83,752 people arrived in Italy via the central Mediterranean route during the six months, 12,549 reached Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus via the eastern Mediterranean and 9,507 arrived in Spain via the western Mediterranean. The most common nationalities of those making the crossing were Nigerian (15 per cent), Guinean (10 per cent), Ivorian (nine per cent), Bangladeshi (nine per cent) and Syrian (seven per cent).
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, warned that the response to the issue needs to be wholistic.
“Taking measures to reduce the number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe, without at the same time stepping up peace-making, development, and safe pathways is morally unacceptable,” he said. “We can’t afford to ignore abuses clearly taking place simply because they happen out of our sight.”
The report said the refugees and migrants continue to face “grave dangers” both in travelling to and journeying through Europe including kidnappings, torture and detention.
Some 14 per cent of those who arrived in Italy were unaccompanied children.
