GENEVA
This year has been the deadliest for migrants trying to reach Europe via the Mediterranean Sea, the International Organization for Migration has said.
The organization’s Head of Research and Publications Frank Laczko said on Monday that 3,072 migrants died crossing the Mediterranean in the first nine months of 2014.
Unveiling the Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration report, Laczko told a press conference at the UN headquarters in Geneva that 40,000 migrants died worldwide since 2000, 22,000 trying to reach Europe.
The report was released weeks after 400 illegal migrants, including scores of Palestinians, went missing after smugglers sank the ship carrying them to Europe.
Crises in Syria, Iraq and across the Middle East and Africa have led to the high death toll.
Europe is the world's most dangerous destination for "irregular" migrants. The organization said 75 percent of 4,077 global migrant deaths between January and September took place in the Mediterranean.
www.aa.com.tr/en
