The number of migrants who crossed the Mediterranean Sea into Europe last year was less than half that of the previous year but the number of deaths remains at more than 3,100 people, according to data from the International Organization for Migration.
The figures, released late last week, show that an estimated 3,116 people had died attempting to make the crossing in the year to 20th December, 2017, compared to 5,143 in the whole of 2016. But they also showed that the flow of people had dropped by more than half – from an estimated 363,504 making the crossing in 2016 to 171,635 in 2017.
Italy remained the main point of arrival – 119,310 arrivals in 2017 compared to 181,436 in 2016 – while arrivals in Greece plunged dramatically in 2017, down from 173,561 in 2016 to 29,595. The numbers arriving to Spain, meanwhile, increased in 2017 – from 8,162 to at least 21,663.
The central Mediterranean route to Italy remains the deadliest of the Mediterranean routes – it accounted for 91 per cent of all deaths among migrants there.
Globally, some 5,376 migrants died making their journey during 2017, a third below 2016’s figure of 7,932.
This included 607 deaths in the Americas (compared to 714 in 2016) as well as 156 drownings in the Caribbean (up on 2016’s total of 105), 387 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa (up from 92), 298 i South-East Asia (up from 187) and 214 in the Middle East (up from 114). There were 94 deaths recorded in Europe compared with 62 in 2016.
