UN: Migrant Deaths in Mediterranean Hit Record in 2016

At least 3,800 migrants have died or are missing in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016–the deadliest year on record, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has said.

It said this was despite a significant drop in migrant crossings compared with 2015, when 3,771 deaths were reported.

Smugglers were now more often using flimsy boats and putting more people aboard, the UNHCR said.

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The agency said the most dangerous route had been between Libya and Italy, with one death in every 47 arrivals recorded.

By comparison, another–much shorter–route from Turkey to Greece had a ratio of 1 in 88.

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Nearly 330,000 people have crossed the Mediterranean Sea this year, compared with more than one million in 2015.

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