Mediterranean Sea crossings exceed 300,000, including 200,000 to Greece
This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
The number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean this year has now exceeded 300,000, including almost 200,000 people landing in Greece and 110,000 in Italy. This represents a large increase from last year, when around 219,000 people crossed the Mediterranean during the whole of 2014.
At the same time, some 2,500 refugees and migrants are estimated to have died or gone missing this year, trying to reach Europe. This death toll does not include yesterday's tragedy off Libya where numbers of deaths are still unconfirmed. Last year some 3,500 people died or were reported missing in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the last few days, more people have lost their lives in three separate incidents.
The Libyan Coast Guard carried two rescue operations on Thursday morning, seven miles off the port town of Zwara. Two boats carrying an approximate total of 500 refugees and migrants were intercepted and survivors taken to shore in Libya. An estimated 200 people are still missing and feared dead. A still undetermined number of bodies were recovered and taken to shore. The Libyan Red Crescent has been helping with the collection of the bodies.
On Wednesday (26th August), rescuers coming to the aid of a boat off the Libyan coast found 51 people dead from suffocation in the hold. According to survivors, smugglers were charging people money for allowing them to come out of the hold in order to breathe. One survivor, Abdel, 25, from Sudan told our colleagues, "we didn't want to go down there but they beat us with sticks to force us. We had no air so we were trying to get back up through the hatch and to breathe through the cracks in the ceiling. But the other passengers were scared the boat would capsize so they pushed us back down and beat us too. Some were stamping on our hands." Another survivor, Mahdi, an orthopaedic surgeon from Baghdad, told us he paid 3,000 euros to get his wife and two-year-old son on the top deck.
Last week (15 August), in a similar incident, the bodies of 49 persons were found in the hold of another boat. They are thought to have died after inhaling poisonous fumes.
Also on Wednesday, a rubber dinghy carrying some 145 refugees and migrants ran into trouble when the person steering it made a manoeuvre that caused the dinghy to tilt dangerously to one side. Some people fell into the sea and two men jumped into the water to rescue them. Panic ensued and people began to jostle and shove and, as a result, three women were crushed to death on the dinghy. Of those who fell in the water, 18 are still missing and believed to have drowned. The survivors were rescued and taken to Lampedusa, including the two-month old baby of one of the women who died. Most of the survivors are in critical condition, suffering from shock, cuts and bruises.
Despite the concerted efforts of the joint European search and rescue operation under FRONTEX, which has saved tens of thousands of lives this year, the Mediterranean Sea continues to be the deadliest route for refugees and migrants.
Many of the people arriving by sea in southern Europe, particularly in Greece, come from countries affected by violence and conflict, such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan; they are in need of international protection and they are often physically exhausted and psychologically traumatized.
UNHCR appeals to all governments involved to provide comprehensive responses and act with humanity and in accordance with their international obligations.
While these numbers are overwhelming for the already overstretched capacity of single countries, such as Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary, Serbia or Germany, they are manageable through collaborative and coordinated responses at the European level. All European countries and the EU must act together in response to the growing emergency and demonstrate responsibility and solidarity.
- For more information on this topic, please contact:
- In Rome, Carlotta Sami, on mobile +39 335 679 47 46
- In Rome, Barbara Molinario on mobile +39 33 85 46 29 32
- In Athens, Katarina Kitidi on mobile +30 693 7115656
- In Athens, Stella Nanou on mobile +30 693 79 34 515
- In Paris, Celine Schmitt on mobile + 33 6 23 16 11 78
- In Geneva, William Spindler on mobile +41 79 217 3011
Related news and stories
Ukraine's refugees find long-term support in Europe's host countries
AU, EU and UN push for urgent action to address the pressing needs of migrants and refugees in Libya
Earthquake survivors in Türkiye count the devastating toll
Twelve years on, Syrian refugees face deepening debt and hunger
Twelve years on, Syrian refugees face deepening debt and hunger
Visiting earthquake-ravaged areas of Türkiye and Syria, UNHCR's Grandi urges more support for survivors trying to rebuild
Your search for « crossing the mediterranean » matched 584 results. Displaying page 15 of 65 pages.
-
Angelina Jolie and UNHCR chief Guterres visit boat people on Italian island
19 Jun 2011 ... More than 40,000 people have risked the Mediterranean crossing on overcrowded boats and reached Lampedusa so far this year. A further 1,500 have died in the attempt. Guterres appealed on European ...... -
66th Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme Agenda point 5(a). Statement by Volker Türk, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
8 Oct 2015 ... ... Over half a million people have braved crossing the Mediterranean this year alone, including the nearly 3,000 who died at sea, and thousands have risked their lives in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman ...... -
UNHCR shock at latest deaths on Mediterranean, rescue capacity needed more urgently than ever
15 Apr 2015 ... With a new and large-scale boat tragedy reported on the Mediterranean, UNHCR is today appealing afresh ... So far in 2015, some 31,500 people are known to have made crossings to Italy and Greece - the ...... -
The death boats: A survivor's tale
30 Jun 2015 ... Doaa knew the risks. It was August 2014, and more than 2000 migrants and refugees had already died crossing the Mediterranean that year. She didn't know how to swim, but for the second time in her ...... -
As Europe refugee and migrant arrivals fall, reports of abuses, deaths persist
24 Aug 2017 ... The report says that overall Mediterranean crossings fell sharply in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2016, due mainly to a 94% decline in people using the sea route from ...... -
UNHCR steps up efforts towards alternatives to detention in Libya and solutions for vulnerable refugees
12 Sep 2017 ... All this before they even embark on the deadly Central Mediterranean sea crossing, where the risk of dying is one in 39. Libya is also in the middle of a conflict that has displaced hundreds of ...... -
UNHCR appeals to Israel over forced relocations policy
9 Jan 2018 ... Along the way they suffered abuse, torture and extortion before risking their lives once again by crossing the Mediterranean to Italy. The interviews – all with adult males, some with family ...... -
UNHCR warns of mounting refugee and migrant deaths in the Central Mediterranean
4 May 2021 ... are known to have lost their life trying to make the dangerous sea crossing along the Central Mediterranean route, compared to 150 in the same period in 2020, an increase of more than 200 per cent. ...... -
"Women refugees and asylum seekers in the European Union." Ceremony to mark International Women's Day. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the Chamber of the European Parliament, Strasbourg, 8 March 2016
8 Mar 2016 ... As you know very well, in 2015, a million people arrived in Europe, crossing the Mediterranean in unseaworthy dinghies and flimsy boats. We have all seen the images of the piles of discarded life ......