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Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals Reach 29,369; Deaths: 663

Switzerland - IOM reports that 29,369 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 2 April, with over 80 percent arriving in Italy and the rest in Spain and Greece. This compares with 172,089 through the first 93 days of 2016.

Mediterranean Developments
Total arrivals by sea and deaths in the Mediterranean 2016-2017

1 January – 2 April 2017

1 January – 4 April 2016

 Country of Arrival

Arrivals

Deaths

Arrivals

Deaths

Italy

24,513

 

602
(Central Med. route)

19,287

355 (Central Med. route)

Greece

3,856

14
(Eastern Med. route)

152,137

366
(Eastern Med. route)

Cyprus

n.a.

27

 

Spain

1,000

47
(Western Med. route)

638

28
(Western Med. route)

Estimated Total

29,369

663

172,089

749

 

IOM Rome spokesperson Flavio Di Giacomo reported Monday that 1,388 migrants have arrived by sea to Italy since IOM’s last report. With arrivals to Italy approaching the 25,000 mark, this year’s passage on the Mediterranean’s central route is running more than 25 percent ahead of last year’s total at this same point.  Annual total for 2016 on this route was 181,436. If current trends persist, IOM estimates that total arrivals for 2017 would surpass 200,000 for the first time since the start of the current emergency.

IOM Libya’s Christine Petré reported Monday that On 1 April, 119 migrants (11 women, 101 men and seven children) were rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard off Az Zawiyah. The migrants were taken to Shuhada Al Nasr detention centre where IOM’s implementing partner STACO provided medical assistance to 21 migrants, including a 23-year-old man with burn injuries over 35 percent of his body. He was provided with initial treatment at the detention centre and is in the process of being transferred to a medical clinic for further treatment.

On 2 April, 38 migrants (all men) were rescued by the Libyan Coast Guard off Az Zawiyah and also taken to Shuhada Al Nasr detention centre. So far in 2017, 3,839 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya and 171 bodies have been retrieved.

At this time last year, IOM’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) recorded 749 Mediterranean fatalities, nearly half of those occurring off Greece in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 2017, so far 14 fatalities have been recorded on this route, with another 47 recorded off Spain and 602 recorded documented in the waters between Libya and Italy. These data include seven bodies recovered last week in Libya.

Worldwide, the IOM Missing Migrants Project reports that fatalities through 3 April number 1,169 (see chart, below), with the Mediterranean region accounting for the largest proportion of deaths – over half of the global total. This is over 400 fewer than at the same point in 2016. However, these data do not account for full reporting from North Africa and the Horn of Africa, two migration corridors where data collection tends to be slower than in other regions. 

Comparative table of global totals of MMP data for 1 Jan–3 April 2016 and 2017

Jan 1 – April 3

2016

2017

Mediterranean

749

663

Europe

19

14

Middle East

35

13

North Africa

547

198

Horn of Africa

89

64

Sub-Saharan Africa

23

12

Southeast Asia

35

44

East Asia

0

0

US/Mexico

59

64

Central America

29

16

Caribbean

38

81

South America

10

0

Total

1,633

1,169

For the latest Mediterranean Update infographic:
Here is the link http://migration.iom.int/docs/MMP/170404_Mediterranean_Update.pdf

For latest arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe

Learn more about the Missing Migrants Project at: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For further information please contact:
Joel Millman at IOM Geneva, Tel: +41.79.103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo at IOM Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int
Sabine Schneider at IOM Germany, Tel. +49 30 278 778 17, Email: sschneider@iom.int
IOM Yemen, Saba Malme, Sana’a, Tel. + 967 736 800 329 (mobile), Email: smalme@iom.int
IOM Greece: Daniel Esdras, Tel: +30 210 9912174, Email: iomathens@iom.int or Kelly Namia, Tel: +30 210 9919040, +30 210 9912174, Email: knamia@iom.int
Julia Black at IOM GMDAC, Tel: +49 30 278 778 27, Email: jblack@iom.int
Abby Dwommoh, IOM Turkey, Tel. (Direct): +90 (0)312 454 3048,  Mobile: +90 (533) 698 7285, Email: adwommoh@iom.int or Mazen Aboulhosn, Tel: +9031245-51202, Email: maboulhosn@iom.int
IOM Libya: Othman Belbeisi, Tel: +216 29 600389, Email: obelbeisi@iom.int  or Christine Petré, Tel. (Direct):  +216 29 240 448, Email: chpetre@iom.int or Ashraf Hassan, Tel: +216 29 794707, Email: ashassan@iom.int
IOM Niger: Alberto Preato, Tel: +227 8053 5933, E-mail: apreato@iom.int
Hicham Hasnaoui at IOM Morocco, Tel: + 212 5 37 65 28 81, Email: hhasnaoui@iom.int

For information or interview requests in French:
Florence Kim, IOM Geneva, Tel: +41 79 103 03 42, Email: fkim@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int