LONDON — The variety of migrants, asylum candidates and refugees who have actually passed away while trying to reach Europe by sea has actually more than doubled up until now this year, according to a brand-new report from the United Nations’ migration firm.
In the very first 6 months of 2021, a minimum of 1,146 individuals lost their lives while running the risk of the journey to European coasts, according to the International Organization for Migration’s report.
The death toll represents an increase of 123 percent compared to the exact same duration in 2015, when the IOM taped 513 deaths. Coronavirus constraints imposed in early 2020 might discuss a few of the increase.
But the variety of individuals who passed away while trying to cross the Mediterranean up until now this year — 896 — has actually currently risen past the 615 who passed away in the exact same amount of time in 2019, and the 389 who passed away in 2020.
The IOM has actually cautioned that the death toll for all 3 years is likely much greater, with lots of shipwrecks going unreported or showing challenging to validate.
“We believe that the number of deaths is much higher than officially reported,” IOM representative Safa Msehli informed NBC News. “There are so many reports of invisible shipwrecks — when a boat goes missing with no news.”
“Just a few weeks ago, we recorded at least 14 bodies washing ashore in Libya without knowing exactly what tragedy had occurred and where. So that’s the most alarming part.”
According to IOM, the main Mediterranean path in between Libya and Italy showed to be the most dangerous this year, with 741 individuals diing at sea.
At least 250 individuals passed away while taking a trip throughout the Atlantic Ocean in between West Africa and Spain’s Canary Islands and a minimum of 249 lost their lives on the Western Mediterranean path to Spain.
Meanwhile, a minimum of 6 individuals passed away on the Eastern Mediterranean path to Greece, the IOM stated.
Many of those deaths, Msehli stated, might have been prevented with more powerful action from European countries.
In specific, Msehli stated there requires to be an European Union-led “search and rescue” effort, in addition to higher assistance for rescue operations run by non-governmental companies (NGOs).
She even more stated that producing “safe and legal pathways” to Europe and punishing human trafficking and smuggling groups would likewise be crucial to avoiding deaths at sea.
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Duccio Staderini, head of search and rescue operations for Médecins Sans Frontières, stated rescue ships run by NGOs are being targeted more by authorities in southern Europe than previously.
Speaking from on-board the Geo Barents — a Médecins Sans Frontières-run search and rescue vessel that was just recently taken by Italian authorities following an assessment — Staderini stated Italy, in specific, has actually seen the variety of rescue ships apprehended over current years had actually increased, bringing life-saving operations to a stop sometimes for months, if not longer.
“There is a very strong criminalization of search and rescue activities in southern Europe nowadays. After working in this sector close to 25 years, I was not expecting to be in the situation of being criminalized in Europe and this is very shocking,” he stated.
In a declaration shown Italian broadcaster Sky TG24 quickly after the Geo Barents was apprehended, the Italian Coast Guard stated the ship was held after an assessment exposed “several irregularities,” consisting of not having enough life-saving devices on board to accommodate the possible hundreds who might be brought aboard the ship.
Staderini stated that MSF is working to deal with the concerns raised by the Coast Guard, however cautioned that the hold-up might come at the expense of lives at sea.
He even more stated that he fears that Italy might be wishing to discourage migrants, asylum candidates and refugees from trying the journey to the nation’s coasts by obstructing rescue ships from running at sea.
“There is this idea that if there is no search and rescue, people will stop coming, but as we have observed, even today people are probably attempting to cross, even if there is no search and rescue capacity and we know from observing in the last months and years, this doesn’t impact the influx,” he stated.
In a conference in May, both Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and Libyan Interior Minister Khaled Tijani Mazen revealed their dedication to guaranteeing “full respect for the human rights of migrants and in particular people in need of international protection”.
They likewise worried the requirement for “more effective management” of migration, nevertheless, with focus put on the EU’s function in assisting handle migration circulations.
