The number of people who have fled across the Mediterranean since 2014 has increased to more than 20,000. The UN Organization for Migration (IOM) reported this today in Geneva. It has recorded the death toll since the start of the strong refugee movement in 2014.
According to IOM, over 100,000 people came to Europe on all routes across the Mediterranean in 2019 as a whole. 885 people died. In January and February this year there were around 14,000 people, at least 211 were killed.
The number of deaths per year has been declining since 2016, according to the IOM. Since 2017, however, more people have been killed than in previous years based on the attempted crossings. The organization campaigns to offer more legal migration routes to prevent people from embarking on precarious escape routes so that fewer people die while fleeing.
