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2016 sees sharp decrease in Mediterranean migrant arrivals in Europe: IOM

Xinhua, November 25, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 345,676 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe since January this year, a significant drop from 2015's entries over the same period, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Friday.

"Some 171,463 people have arrived in Greece and 168,579 in Italy during 2016," IOM said in a statement, adding that a further 5,445 and 189 had landed in Spain and Cyprus respectively.

"The total is well below the number of arrivals at this point in 2015, by which time 883,393 migrants and refugees had made the journey," it added.

While the number of migrant sea entries is significantly lower this year, the number of deaths is much higher.

According to latest IOM statistics, 4,663 individuals have drowned attempting to reach European Union shores by sea this year, up from the 3,574 men, women and children who were reported drowned over the same period in 2015.

By far the deadliest this year, the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy has claimed the lives of 4,172 people.

A further 429 individuals have perished on the eastern Mediterranean route, while 62 have died on western Mediterranean passages. Endit