Mediterranean migrant death toll reaches more than 1,000

TMP – 11/05/2017

More than 1,000 migrants have died so far in 2017 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe, according to the latest report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). This is higher than the figure for the same period last year.

Out of those who have died, more than 150 are children. According to the UN’s children agency UNICEF, the real number of child casualties is most likely higher, given that many migrant children are unaccompanied and their deaths therefore go unreported.

“It is deeply concerning that vulnerable people, including thousands of children, are risking their lives to reach Europe’s shores using this incredibly dangerous route,” said Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for the Refugee and Migrant Crisis in Europe.

Earlier in April, at least 97 migrants, including 15 women and children, were presumed dead after a plastic dinghy carrying more than 100 people sank off the Libyan coast near Tripoli.

The passage from North Africa to Europe continues to be the deadliest route for migrants anywhere on earth, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.