Maritime migrant fatalities in Mediterranean unchanged since May 3

A total of 1,357 migrants and refugees have lost their lives when attempting to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe this year, a figure which has remained unchanged in the last two weeks, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday.

The organization furthermore indicated that the fatality rate through May 15 is 24 percent lower than last year's total of 1,792.

A breakdown of the death toll shows that 976 people have lost their lives on the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy.

A further 376 have died on the eastern Mediterranean route separating Turkey and Greece, while five have died on the Western Mediterranean and Western African routes.

The latest migration figures reveal that 189,414 people have reached European shores this year compared to 91,860 in the first five months of 2015.

Most arrivals have taken place in Greece, a country which has registered 155,837 entries in 2016.

A further 32,486 and 1,063 arrivals were reported in Italy and Spain respectively, while 28 migrants have reached Cyprus since the beginning of the year.

Over 1 million maritime refugees and migrants crossed into Europe in 2015, a year which saw 3,770 migrants died when attempting to do so.

Source: XINHUA