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Migrant sea arrivals in Europe top 350,000 mark: IOM

Xinhua, December 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

A total of 350,573 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe so far this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Friday.

Some 173,188 of those arrivals have been recorded on Italian shores, with a further 171,751 entries documented in Greece.

A further 5,445 and 189 individuals have reached Spain and Cyprus respectively.

While the number of arrivals since January pales in comparison with 2015's figure over the same period (over 883,000 entries), the number of deaths this year has been much higher.

According to IOM, 4,699 men, women and children have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe this year, compared to 3,567 at this point in 2015.

By far the deadliest this year, the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy has claimed the lives of 4,207 people.

A further 429 individuals have perished on the eastern Mediterranean route, while 63 have died on western Mediterranean passages. Enditem