IOM: Mediterranean Mortality Rate Doubles in 2017
The rate of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea has nearly doubled this year, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The IOM said 71,418 people took boats to Europe during the first five months of 2017, and 1,650 people died along the way.
In the same period last year, 205,858 crossed the Mediterranean, while 2,515 people died, meaning the total mortality rate has almost doubled from 1.2 percent to 2.3 percent.
The reason for the overall decline in crossings is the massive dropoff in crossing on the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece in the wake of the E.U.-Turkey deal last March.
But the Mediterranean passage from North Africa to Italy, a much longer and deadlier journey, has got busier this year – the number of people crossing rose to 60,388 from 48,600 last year.
The difficulty of rescue operations and the worsening conditions of refugee boats has exacerbated the death toll, aid groups said.
“The deterrence policies implemented to keep people away from Europe have little regard for the human consequences,” Vickie Hawkins, executive director of Medecins Sans Frontieres UK, told the Guardian. “As a result, the Mediterranean has turned into a giant cemetery with over 1,500 missing or dead so far this year and tens of thousands of people detained inside Libya.”
UNHCR Warns 60,000 Syrian Refugee Families Could Lose Assistance
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) warned that 60,000 Syrian refugee families in Lebanon and Jordan may lose access to cash assistance programs in the next four weeks.
UNHCR needs over $180 million immediately to continue cash assistance programs and healthcare in the countries, as well as to provide assistance to thousands of Syrians stuck at the Jordanian border.
The funding gap could also jeopardize “support to UNHCR’s and the Lebanese authorities’ capacity to issue and renew documentation for refugees, following a recent decision to waive the residency renewal fees which most refugees could not afford,” UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic said.
UNHCR noted that the U.N. inter-agency request for $4.6 billion to support Syrian refugees in the region this year is still only 18 percent funded.
Italy Arrests Smugglers Bringing People From Tunisia by Speedboat
Italian authorities arrested 12 individuals suspected of smuggling people out of Tunisia on expensive speedboat journeys.
The group offered a four-hour journey in fast powerboats from Tunisia to the western Sicilian coast, charging $2,250–$3,400 (2,000–3,000 euros) per person. Police said they had verified at least five such crossings.
Police have warrants for three other suspects and said all are Italian residents, some with Tunisian heritage.
Most migrants and asylum seekers take unseaworthy dinghies operated by smugglers in Libya and Egypt and often spend days at sea in highly dangerous conditions.
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