E don pass 20,000 waka abroad pipu wey don kpayin on top Mediterranean since 2014

More dan 20,000 waka abroad pipu wey dey attempt to cross de Mediterranean sea into Europe don die since 2014.

De death toll wey dem don describe as a ‘grim milestone’ increase afta a recent shipwreck off de coast of Libya and oda water accident for February 2020, IOM’s Missing Waka Abroad Project show.

At least 91 pipu on top a rubber boat for de north of Garabulli, Libya dey reported missing for February, dis case na anoda example of de many ‘ghost boats’ wey don disappear for recent years along with deir passengers since 2014.

Two-thirds of de fatalities wey we don record na pipu wey lost for sea without trace. De fact dat we don reach dis grim new milestone dey make IOM position dey strong say dere be urgent need for serious and increased (search and rescue) capacity for de Mediterranean,’ talk Frank Laczko, Director of IOM’s Global Migrarion Data Analysis Centre.

Ova 200 waka abroad pipu don miss or die between January and February 2020 afta failed attempts to reach Europe via de Mediterranean sea.

Dere don been drop in de numba of deaths for de Mediterranean afta more dan 5,000 waka abroad pipu die for 2016. Howeva, more deaths dey recorded for de Central and Western Mediterranean routes for 2018 and 2019 dan for 2017. 

De Mediterranean sea don be a major gateway for thousands of waka abroad pipu wey dey attempt o enta Europe thru kountries like Libya, Morocco and Turkey and Turkey since 2014. Humanitarian organisations dey call for beta efforts to provide and promote safe, orderly and legal waka abroad, as a way of reducing de gbege of irregular waka abroad for de Mediterranean.

TMP – 13/03/2020

Photo credit: ShutterStock/Nicolas Economou

Photo caption: Lesvos island, Greece – 29 October 2015. Syrian waka abroad pipu / refugees arrive from Turkey on boat thru sea with cold water near Molyvos, Lesbos on top overload dinghy. Leaving Syria wey get war