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Close to 155,000 maritime migrants reach EU in 2016

Xinhua, March 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

Some 154,886 migrants and refugees have reached EU soil by sea in the first 10 and a half weeks of 2016, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday.

At least 467 people have lost their lives when attempting to do so. On the eastern sea passage separating Turkey and Greece, 362 individuals have perished this year.

About 105 have died on the central and western Mediterranean routes linking North Africa with Italy and Spain.

With the influx of migrants into Europe showing no signs of abating, the IOM reported that some 1.4 million migrants and refugees have entered Europe via Greece, Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Malta since the start of 2014.

"Through March 16 of this year, IOM counts over 997,000 seaborne arrivals just to Greece," the organization said in a statement.

As was the case last year, most maritime migrant arrivals this year have taken place in Greece (143,886), with the remaining 11,000 reaching Italy. Endit