Global migrant deaths up 20 per cent: IOM
In total, 5,238 people have perished since January 1, or 951 more than at the same point in 2015, the International Organisation for Migration says.
AFP, Geneva :
Migrant deaths worldwide this year have surged above 5,200 — a 20 percent increase on 2015 — driven by record fatalities in the Mediterranean, the International Organisation for Migration said Friday.
In total, 5,238 people have perished since January 1, or 951 more than at the same point in 2015, the Geneva-based IOM said in a statement.
The Mediterranean Sea route, used by nearly 330,000 people in 2016 seeking a new life in Europe, remains the world’s deadliest.
The UN refugee agency said this week that Mediterranean migrant fatalities had hit a record 3,800.
IOM put the number of dead and missing on that route at 3,930 for the year, but the two partner agencies often have different figures.
Migrant deaths also rose to 500 this year in Latin America, with people on the move killed by a range of causes including dehydration, vehicle accidents and murder.
IOM noted that in 60 percent of cases the bodies of migrants who perish are never recovered.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of countries in the western Mediterranean Sea region met Friday to discuss migration and the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and elsewhere.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault chaired the one-day meeting in the French port city of Marseille along with his Moroccan counterpart, Salaheddine Mezouar.
The leaders grappled with the fight against human and arms traffickers who exploit migrants crossing by sea from Libya to Europe.
Salaheddine Mezouar, foreign minister of Morocco, said that a political agreement signed in December 2015 between Libya’s rival parties must be fully enforced otherwise this “would be a catastrophe for this country.”
Libya has been mired in conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with rival parliaments and governments emerging in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias and tribes.
The meeting brought together ministers from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta, as well as Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania in North Africa.
Migrant deaths worldwide this year have surged above 5,200 — a 20 percent increase on 2015 — driven by record fatalities in the Mediterranean, the International Organisation for Migration said Friday.
In total, 5,238 people have perished since January 1, or 951 more than at the same point in 2015, the Geneva-based IOM said in a statement.
The Mediterranean Sea route, used by nearly 330,000 people in 2016 seeking a new life in Europe, remains the world’s deadliest.
The UN refugee agency said this week that Mediterranean migrant fatalities had hit a record 3,800.
IOM put the number of dead and missing on that route at 3,930 for the year, but the two partner agencies often have different figures.
Migrant deaths also rose to 500 this year in Latin America, with people on the move killed by a range of causes including dehydration, vehicle accidents and murder.
IOM noted that in 60 percent of cases the bodies of migrants who perish are never recovered.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of countries in the western Mediterranean Sea region met Friday to discuss migration and the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria and elsewhere.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault chaired the one-day meeting in the French port city of Marseille along with his Moroccan counterpart, Salaheddine Mezouar.
The leaders grappled with the fight against human and arms traffickers who exploit migrants crossing by sea from Libya to Europe.
Salaheddine Mezouar, foreign minister of Morocco, said that a political agreement signed in December 2015 between Libya’s rival parties must be fully enforced otherwise this “would be a catastrophe for this country.”
Libya has been mired in conflict since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, with rival parliaments and governments emerging in the east and west, each backed by an array of militias and tribes.
The meeting brought together ministers from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Malta, as well as Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania in North Africa.
