Alwaght-United Nations agencies says 5,000 migrants are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Europe this year.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the past year witnessed a record number of migrants losing their lives in the dangerous journey to Europe. The report came following two shipwrecks on Thursday in which some 100 people, mainly West Africans, were feared dead.
"Those two incidents together appear to be the numbers that would bring this year's total up to over to 5,000 (deaths), which is a new high that we have reported during this crisis," IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a Geneva briefing. “This is the worst annual death toll ever seen,” said UNHCR spokesman William Spindler.
The Italian coast guard rescued survivors and had recovered eight bodies so far, he said. IOM staff were interviewing survivors brought to Trapani, Italy, he added.
Just under 3,800 migrants perished at sea during all of 2015, according to IOM figures.
Spindler said the "alarming increase" in deaths this year appeared to be related to bad weather, the declining quality of vessels used by smugglers, and their tactics to avoid detection.
"These (reasons also) include sending large numbers of embarkations simultaneously, which makes the work of rescuers more difficult," he said
The UNHCR appealed to states to open up more legal pathways for admitting refugees. Spindler pointed out that resettlement programs, private sponsorship, family reunification and student scholarships would help migrants not to resort to dangerous journeys and the use of smugglers.
IOM figures show 358,403 migrants and refugees had entered Europe by sea in 2016 up to and including Dec. 21, arriving mostly in Greece and Italy have used the Libya or Turkey routes.
IOM believes many more deaths at sea may have gone unreported this year – in the Mediterranean and elsewhere – particularly between North Africa to Spain, where data collection this year has been sporadic and many smaller vessels are believed to have been lost without detection.
Most of the migrants are from Africa, escaping grinding poverty, while others are from crisis stricken Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Economic crisis in Africa has partly been caused by Western countries plundering of the continent’s resources while wars in the West Asia region are the result of negative interference of Western countries especially the US and Britain. Therefore, Western countries shoulder the responsibility of the unprecedented number of migrants moving to Europe.
