3,000 migrant deaths in Med in 2015

(ANSA) - Geneva, October 6 - Almost 3,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday. The exact figure is 2,987, including the most recent 100 deaths off the Libyan coast since Sunday. Migrants and refugees attempt the often-perilous sea passage in search of a better future in Europe.
    With reports surfacing from Libya this morning of nearly 100 migrant deaths since Sunday, IOM's Missing Migrants Project calculates that 2,987 migrants this year have perished in the Mediterranean, or almost three quarters of the 4,093 migrants who have died worldwide so far in 2015.
    "The Mediterranean remains the deadliest route for migrants on our planet," said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing in Geneva. "This loss of life is unnecessary, completely avoidable and absolutely unacceptable." These latest figures are based on unconfirmed reports of bodies being found near Libya's coast. At least two sightings - of 85 corpses in one area, and ten in another - have been reported, according to IOM's team in Libya on Tuesday, citing the Libyan Red Crescent.
    Meanwhile, as cold weather begins to become a factor on the Mediterranean routes, IOM Rome reports that another 2,000 migrants have arrived this week in Italy.
    Flavio Di Giacomo of IOM Rome reported that some 1,830 migrants were rescued from six vessels found adrift in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, citing Italian Coast Guard sources.
    He said that the survivors were brought ashore in operations to save those in four stricken boats and two rubber dinghies on Monday. Another 190 new arrivals reportedly are on their way to Italy this morning.
    IOM's 2015 tally to date for Mediterranean arrivals now stands at 557,899 - virtually double 2014's full-year total of 219,000 migrants.
    In Greece, IOM reports that since last Friday (2/10) over 20,000 new arrivals have come ashore from boats leaving Turkey, bringing the total on this route to 421,341 so far in 2015. IOM Turkey reports the Turkish Coast Guard has counted 134 deaths of migrants in its waters this year. The Turkish military said 72 migrants died in Turkish waters in September alone, with another four deaths reported through October 5.