UNITED NATIONS, Jan 8 (APP): More migrants were killed crossing the
Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2016 than ever before, according to the United Nations migration agency in the region.
At least 363,348 people crossed the sea “mostly to Italy and Greece”
but 5,079 additional people were either killed or are missing. The UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) just released its
preliminary figures, but they are expected to increase with the addition
of fatalities from December.
“The probable addition of several hundred more fatalities recorded in
2016 only deepens the tragedy,” IOM Director General William Lacy Swing
said in a statement.
He added that Europe’s frustration with a seemingly endless cycle of
migrant rescue followed by reports of shipwrecks and more drownings will continue unless Governments throughout the region find a way to manage migration comprehensively.
Swing called for “finding creative means to permit safe, legal and
secure migration” which could be done through work visas, family reunification or temporary protected status.
“Instead of doubling down on tactics that do not work, let’s use this
New Year to try something that’s actually new,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, IOM on Friday carried out its first aid training courses in
Libya with rescuers involving migrant lifesaving operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
The training, which is part of the Sea and Desert Migration Management
for Libyan Authorities to Rescue Migrants (SEA DEMM), was funded by the European Union.
2016 deadliest year ever for migrants crossing Mediterranean: UN
