In the first quarter of this year, at least 441 people died while crossing from North Africa to Europe. This is evident from figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It is the highest death toll in the past six years. Because at least 300 others are still missing, the death toll is probably an underestimate, according to the IOM.
The migration organization, affiliated with the United Nations, calls the migration route across the Mediterranean Sea “the deadliest in the world”. The Africans who venture across to Europe often do so in rickety boats that are barely able to withstand the rough seas. According to the organization, about half of the deaths are related to delayed rescue efforts by the responsible states. In one case, no rescue operation was launched at all. After more than 20,000 confirmed deaths since 2014, IOM director-general António Vitorino says he fears that the deaths of migrants in the Mediterranean have “normalised”.
Italy declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after the number of arrivals reached 31,000 in the first quarter, according to the Interior Ministry, almost four times the number in the same period last year. The government has earmarked 5 million euros for new measures within the state of emergency, including new refugee reception centers in the south. Special attention should also be paid to ‘hotspot’ Lampedusa, the southern Italian island where many refugees from Africa arrive.