In a stark report issued on Thursday, the United Nations refugee agency disclosed that a staggering 186,000 migrants and refugees have made their way to southern Europe thus far this year, with the majority finding refuge in Italy.
Between January and September 24, distressingly, the Mediterranean claimed the lives or whereabouts of over 2,500 individuals who dared to cross its treacherous waters. This marks a harrowing escalation compared to the 1,680 casualties or missing persons reported during the same period in the preceding year. Ruven Menikdiwela, the director of the New York office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, delivered this sombre news to the UN Security Council.
The UNHCR further estimated that an astonishing 102,000 refugees and migrants from Tunisia, reflecting a staggering 260% surge from the previous year, and over 45,000 from Libya, attempted to make the perilous voyage across the central Mediterranean to reach Europe between January and August.
Approximately 31,000 individuals were valiantly rescued at sea or intercepted and later disembarked in Tunisia, while another 10,600 found refuge in Libya, as reported by Menikdiwela.
Italy bore the brunt of this migration crisis, with a staggering 130,000 migrants and refugees reaching its shores, signifying an alarming 83% spike compared to the same timeframe in the previous year. The remaining arrivals were scattered among Greece, Spain, Cyprus, and Malta.
Addressing the council convened by Russia to discuss the migration crisis in Europe, Menikdiwela elucidated that the high exodus from Tunisia was precipitated by a palpable sense of insecurity among refugee communities. This unease followed a series of racially motivated attacks, hate speech incidents, and collective expulsions from Libya and Algeria.
Menikdiwela further highlighted the UNHCR’s challenges in Libya, where they have registered 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers. She underscored that the conditions for thousands of refugees and migrants, both within official and unofficial detention facilities, remain deeply concerning.
The figures presented by Menikdiwela resonated with those articulated by Par Liljert, the director of the International Office for Migration’s UN office. Liljert, too, underscored the dire circumstances faced by migrants and refugees attempting to brave the Mediterranean.
“Recent IOM data demonstrates that from January to September 2023, more than 187,000 individuals crossed the Mediterranean in pursuit of a better future and the promise of safety,” Liljert told the council. “Tragically, during this same period, IOM recorded 2,778 deaths, with 2,093 of them occurring along the treacherous central Mediterranean route,” which is the most dangerous.
“Yet, despite its clear dangers, in 2023 there has been an increase in arrivals to Greece along this route of over 300%, while the number of arrivals in Spain has remained steady, primarily through the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, as compared to the numbers recorded at the same time last year,” he added.
Additionally, IOM documented a notable upswing in arrivals to Italy, with the count reaching 130,000 thus far in 2023, compared to approximately 70,000 in 2022.
