GENEVA
About 237,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in Europe by sea so far in 2015, the International Organization for Migration said on Friday.
"With rescues at sea occurring at a rate of over 1,000 migrants a day this summer off Italy and Greece, the number of arrivals has already surpassed the total arrivals in 2014," the organization’s spokesman, Joel Millman, said at the UN headquarters in Geneva.
According to Millman, deaths at sea were also at record levels this year. At least 2,300 migrants have died so far in attempts to cross into Europe this year.
- Deadliest route
"These latest tragedies underscore the dangers faced by migrants in the Channel of Sicily, now the deadliest route for those fleeing violence, natural disasters and abject poverty,” the spokesman said.
Some 102,000 migrants crossed the Channel of Sicily from Libya to reach safety in Italy in 2015 so far, he said.
"With the latest official Greek government figures reporting 134,988 migrant arrivals from Turkey this year, the total with Italy, Spain and Malta is officially 237,000," he said.
The organization forecasts the total migrant arrivals to surpass a quarter of a million by end of this month. In 2014, the total was 219,000.
- Safer routes for migrants
Noting that migrants fleeing from the Syria crisis were now mainly reaching Europe via Turkey and Greece, the organization said: "This route is significantly shorter and safer than the central Mediterranean route via Libya and Italy".
A total of 3,279 migrants lost their lives while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2014.
