A total of 79,350 migrants and refugees reached Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea through October 17 this year, some 13 percent less than during the same period in 2018, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.
"Arrivals this year to Greece and Spain are at 43,020 and 19,637 respectively, (62,657 combined) accounting for almost 80 per cent of the regional total, with the balance arriving in much smaller numbers to Italy, Malta and Cyprus," the press release said.
Tragically, 1,077 individuals have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year trying to reach the European Union's shores. This is comparatively less than the 1,965 deaths confirmed during the same period in 2018.
According to the IOM, since 2014, nearly 19,000 migrants and refugees have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.
Since 2015, Europe has been experiencing its worst migration crisis in recent history, struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing hostilities in middle Eastern and North African countries. However, over recent years the flow of migrants has been steadily going down due to various factors, including the winding down of the war in Syria and a number of European countries embracing stricter border security and immigration policies.
SOURCE: Urdu Point
