The UNHCR announced Tuesday at
a press conference in Geneva that an alarmingly high death toll
had been seen thus far this year for migrants and refugees
crossing the Mediterranean, despite a fall in the overall number
of people trying to do so.
"Already, and with two months of 2016 still to go, at least
3,740 lives are reported lost - just short of the 3,771 deaths
reported for the whole of 2015. This is the worst we have seen,"
UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler said.
He went on to note that "Last year at least 1,015,078
people made the crossing. This year so far, crossings stand at
327,800. From one death for every 269 arrivals last year, in
2016 the likelihood of dying has spiralled to one in 88. On the
Central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy the
likelihood of dying is even higher, at one death for every 47
arrivals."
Some of the causes, he said, included lower quality
vessels, the routes chosen and methods used to prevent detection
amid a higher level of surveillance.
Meanwhile, some 520 migrants rescued over two days in five
different operations along the Libyan coast landed in Taranto
Tuesday aboard the Aquarius vessel.
About 100 are minors, including seven under five.
The migrants were on board the search-and-rescue vessel of
SOS Mediterranée, the Italian-French-German humanitarian group
operating in partnership with Doctors Without Borders.
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