Global migrant deaths have topped 4,000 in the first seven months of this year, a 26% increase in the fatality rate compared with the same period of 2015, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday (August 2nd).
According to the IOM, the 4,027 migrant deaths this year include those who perished crossing the Mediterranean as well as others who died on the North African route and at the Turkey-Syria border, AFP reported.
Some 3,120 have died since January 1st while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. The most deadly route has been the crossing towards Italy, which has cost 2,692 lives, followed by the routes to Greece (383) and Spain (45).
IOM reports 81 migrant deaths on land this year in the Middle East, compared with just two last year, with the number of deadly attacks on migrants and refugees among Syrians seeking transit through Turkey increasing.
