Painful balance sheet in Mediterranean in 2017: 2,800 deaths
At least 2,800 immigrants trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean have been drowned and killed in 2017.
According to a statement made by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 2,800 people who have been trying to migrate to Europe through the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2017 have drowned and lost their lives.
It is reported that since the beginning of 2017, approximately 150 thousand migrants have reached Europe, there has been a decrease compared to the previous year.
In the statement made by the International Organization for Migration in Geneva, from January 2016 until October 22, 2016, approximately 325,000 asylum-seekers reached Europe through the Mediterranean route.
The decline in the figures was attributed to the closure of the Balkan route, where immigrants passed through Greece to countries in northern Europe.
According to the report, three out of every four asylum seekers who have seen the deadly journey through the Mediterranean since the beginning of 2017 have reached Europe through the Italian coast.
The International Organization for Migration explained that asylum seekers reached the coasts of Greece, Cyprus, and Spain apart from Italy. Asylum seekers who could reach Italy in 2017 were mainly from Nigeria, Guinea, Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Mali, Eritrea, Gambia, Senegal, and Sudan.
It has been stated that at least 2,800 of the asylum seekers who have been passing through Europe since the beginning of the year of 2017 have not completed their journey and lost their lives over the dangerous Mediterranean route.
The International Organization for Migration, stating that most of the asylum seekers were drowned, noted that the numbers could be much higher. It is stated that the plastic boots the asylum seekers are trying to cross to Europe are not suitable for a journey over the Mediterranean. (ILKHA)