Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 319,711; Deaths at Sea: 3,654
The International Organization for Migration reports that 319,711 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 through 19 October, arriving mostly in Greece and Italy. Some 168,857 people have arrived in Greece and 145,381 in Italy during 2016. The total is well below the number of arrivals at this point in 2015, when over 650,000 migrants and refugees had made the journey.
I found the description of migrant deaths to be chilling, with the routine nature of the report of the real human tragedy sounding akin to a weather report:
“Some 3,654 people have died trying to make the crossing in 2016. These include five bodies recovered on Wednesday, when an Irish navy ship encountered a rubber boat and rescued 118 survivors off Libya.
By comparison, deaths through 21 October 2015 stood at 3,138 – 2,822 of them on the Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy.”
KJ