According to UN Refugee Aid, 100 million people around the world will be displaced by 2022. In other words: almost all inhabitants of Germany, Austria and Switzerland together.
About 30 million of these refugees live in Africa. War, poverty and oppression – many have been driven from their homes or hope for a better life far away. The ultimate destination: Europe.
Although the number of people seeking refuge in Europe has declined since the height of the “European refugee crisis” in 2016, thousands of people continue to make the perilous journey every day. More than 100,000 have left for Europe this year alone, according to the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project. Since 2016, there are even 1.655 million.
Many refugees decide to take the dangerous water route across the Mediterranean Sea, which is considered the fastest way to enter Europe without an entry permit. There are essentially three main routes for bringing migrants to Europe by sea.
The central route is by far the most used. With no legal means of immigration, the refugees often depend on smugglers, some of whom are unscrupulous, who sometimes transport their 'clients' in unseaworthy or overloaded vessels. Disasters therefore occur regularly, often near the coast, as shown by the map of all migrants killed or missing in the Mediterranean.
Dead and missing migrants in the Mediterranean since 2014
Dead and missing 2014 - 2023:
27047
More than 1 percent of all refugees pay for their journey with their death. Most recently, in mid-June, a devastating boating drama broke out south of Greece's Peloponnese peninsula when a completely overcrowded fishing trawler sank, believed to have been dragged along with some 500 refugees. Only 104 people could be saved, 78 people were found dead.
Since 2014, more than 27,000 people have died or disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea, of which about 25,000 have drowned. The IOM figures are based on official data from the Coast Guard, local doctors and national authorities. However, it remains unclear how many migrants actually die en route to Europe. The numbers are likely even higher, as many bodies are never recovered.
One of the reasons for the high number of casualties is the government's delayed rescue operations, the IOM said at the end of March this year. At least 127 people have died in six shipwrecks this year alone, she says — in part because state-led rescue efforts have been delayed. In a seventh case, in which 73 people drowned, there was no response at all.
There is now also talk of not providing assistance with the boating accident off the Peloponnese. According to the Hellenic Coast Guard, the crew of the boat had offered help several times about two hours before the accident, but this was refused.
However, now there are allegations that the captain of the patrol boat did not intervene when the cutter was discovered. Some media outlets quoted survivors as saying that the Coast Guard sank the boat in the first place by trying to tow it towards Italy. The Coast Guard replied that the boat sank because there was a stampede on board. The only thing that is certain so far is that the sea was calm when the boat sank.
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
