Maritime migrant arrivals in EU approach 150,000 mark, death toll rises
Xinhua, March 11, 2016 Adjust font size:
146,652 refugees and migrants have reached Europe by sea this year while 455 have died attempting to do so, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Friday.
These figures represent a significant rise compared to 2015 numbers, when only 20,700 migrants reached European soil in the year's first quarter.
Most of 2016's arrivals have taken place in Greece (137,160 arrivals), with the remaining 9,492 migrants reaching Italian shores.
Greek authorities have indicated that 47 percent of new arrivals on Greek islands are Syrian, 27 percent are Afghans, 17 percent Iraqis and 3 percent each are from Iran and Pakistan.
Most of the fatalities (354) in 2016 have been recorded on the eastern Mediterranean route separating Turkey and Greece, while 97 people have died crossing the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy.
A further 4 people have died in the waters between Spain and North Africa.
Over a million maritime migrants reached Europe over the course of 2015, most of them in Greece which registered some 853,650 entries last year. Endit