Report: 2,901 people died in Mediterranean in first half of 2016

An estimated 2,901 migrants and refugees died or went missing in the Mediterranean Sea during the first half of 2016, an increase of 37 per cent compared to the same period last year, a new report has shown.

In a data briefing, the International Organisation for Migration’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre (GMDAC) explained that new and more dangerous smuggling practices and attempts to reach Europe by riskier routes have led to a spike in the number of people dying.

An estimated 2,484 people who died on the journey were taking the central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy, where some 70,000 people crossed in the first half of 2016.

“The numbers have not increased hugely in terms of those crossing, but the risk of death remains high and is increasing,” GMDAC Director Frank Laczko said.

Laczko added: “Smugglers are showing absolutely no interest in the welfare of the people who are paying for their services, and cramming unseaworthy vessels with more and more people to increase profits.”

He added that further research needs to be done to determine whether other factors may play a part in the rising death toll, such as whether the overland journey to the coast has become so gruelling that migrants and refugees undertake the Mediterranean crossing already undernourished and exhausted.

In May, the number of deaths in the Mediterranean Sea rose to 1,130, while 388 people died in June and 208 people died in July.