- Title: Two weeks into 2017, Mediterranean migrant deaths rise on last year
- Date: 17th January 2017
- Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (JANUARY 17, 2017) (REUTERS) UNITED NATIONS BUILDING NEWS BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) SPOKESMAN, JOEL MILLMAN, SAYING: "This year, we are up to 219 deaths that we are aware of, or at least that we have reports of. We haven't necessarily confirmed that number, but actually we are hearing reports of as many as 30 more on some other parts of the Mediterranean, principally Morocco and Spain. Last year at this time we recorded 91, so we are up more than double last year's total already and possibly triple." JOURNALISTS AND U.N. STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) SPOKESMAN, JOEL MILLMAN, SAYING: "Initially we thought there might have been 110 people missing. We knew of four survivors and the remains of eight victims that were discovered. But since then, since the survivors have come to shore, we have had a chance to speak with them. We believe the craft might have been much bigger and some people think it's 180 that were on the craft when it left Libya, therefore the casualties would be much higher. Unfortunately, when you only have only four survivors, you don't get much testimony. There's not many people than can corroborate, but this is what we are working with and this is what we are investigating." JOURNALISTS AND U.N. STAFF (SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION (IOM) SPOKESMAN, JOEL MILLMAN, SAYING: "On this particular case, we don't have much detail. There was another incident on Saturday in which three migrants were found frozen to death in a craft, in a dinghy that was rescued and there were quite a number of survivors from that. I think we have more detail, what we know from that case is that they were mostly sub-Saharan Africans, which was the case all of last year on that route, and that there were people who were beaten for refusing to get into some of the crafts and forced into what they thought was an unsafe vessel. So, we're assuming that probably those same things happened with the larger case and it may explain why there were so many deaths." U.N. LOGO
- Embargoed: 31st January 2017 13:01
- Keywords: migrants refugees Mediterranean drown International Organization for Migration IOM
- Location: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- City: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- Country: France
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZGZGW7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: At least 219 migrants and refugees are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean already this year, more than double than during the same period a year ago, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday (January 17).
"This year, we are up to 219 deaths that we are aware of, or at least that we have reports of. We haven't necessarily confirmed that number, but actually we are hearing reports of as many as 30 more on some other parts of the Mediterranean, principally Morocco and Spain. Last year at this time we recorded 91, so we are up more than double last year's total already and possibly triple," IOM spokesman Joel Millman said in Geneva.
Following interviews with four survivors of a weekend shipwreck, the agency said nearly 180 people were feared to have been aboard a boat that capsized off the coast of Libya, not 110 as earlier thought.
"Unfortunately, when you only have only four survivors, you don't get much testimony. There's not many people than can corroborate, but this is what we are working with and this is what we are investigating," he said.
The Italian coastguard said the boat had not been found so there was no way to determine the number of passengers. Survivors were taken to Sicily on Monday.
The overall death toll for migrants on the Mediterranean in the first two weeks of 2016 was 91, the IOM said.
IOM officials are also looking into reports of some 25 migrants perishing at sea between Morocco and Spain in recent days, Millman said.
From Jan. 1 to Jan. 15, 2,876 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea, arriving mostly in Greece and Italy, against 23,664 through the first 14 days of Jan 2016, according to the IOM's latest figures. An agreement between Turkey and the European Union has limited departures from Turkish shores.
In 2016, more than 170,000 irregular migrants entered Greece, with some 80,000 Syrians forming the largest group, Millman said.
Some 41,000 Afghans were the second largest group in Greece, followed by nationals from Iraq, Pakistan and Iran, he said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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