2,809 migrants lost at sea on voyage to Europe so far in 2016

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimated that 206,400 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 up to 5 June, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain.

Deaths so far this year already total 2,809, compared with 1,838 through the first six months of 2015.

With regards to the Friday, 3 June shipwreck off Crete, IOM said 320 migrants and refugees remain missing based on testimony received from survivors.

IOM learned from several survivors that the number of passengers aboard the vessel that foundered at sea was between 648 and 650 men, women and children. Migrants told IOM they were sure of the number “because smugglers counted them twice a day before departure.”

Others said their boat carried 150 women and about 20 accompanied children, said to be between six months and ten years old.

“Before sinking, a father who was travelling with his wife and two sons entrusted his three-year-old girl to another migrant he met on board,” IOM’s team recorded. “He said ‘I entrust you my daughter because I feel that we will not survive.’ He died, together with his wife and the other children. He asked the man to look for his relatives in Egypt, in order to give them his daughter.”

Survivors mentioned another girl, aged seven, who also arrived in Augusta. They believe her parents were also rescued by a different boat and were brought safely to Egypt.

Italy’s Interior Ministry, in a statement issued last week, noted that Eritreans arriving by sea in the period of 1 January through 31 May 2016 comprised the largest group of arrivals, at 6,076, out of a total of 47,851.

In May alone, 19,925 migrants arrived in Italy, down from the 21,231 registered over the same period last year.

After Eritrea, Nigeria is in second place with 5,967 arrivals. Other originating countries include The Gambia (3,782), Somalia (3,450), Côte d’Ivoire (3,156), Guinea (2,836), Sudan (2,653) and Mali (2,614).

The number of minors amongst migrants is also rising. In the first five months of 2016, 7,567 migrant minors reached Europe, including 7,009 unaccompanied children. Nearly half (3,274) came from Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, and Côte d’Ivoire, which together only accounted for some 500 of unaccompanied minor arrivals in 2015.

Federico Soda, Director of the IOM Coordinating Office for the Mediterranean in Rome, said that Libya still remained the main departure point of the majority of migrants, despite an increase in the number of migrants sailing from Egypt.

“Every year arrivals from Egypt represent 10 to 15 percent of the total, but it is a flow that usually starts with the good weather. This year we have registered arrivals from Egypt also during the first months of the year. They include Egyptians, Somalis, Sudanese and Eritreans.”

According to some testimonies gathered by IOM staff, some of the migrants coming from East Africa also passed through Egypt in order to avoid Libya, which is considered currently too dangerous.

The protection of unaccompanied minors is a major concern. They are at high risk of exploitation and human trafficking for both sex and forced labour. IOM works with the Italian government at the landing points in Italy to facilitate the screening and identification of minors and victims of trafficking so that they can be referred to the responsible authorities for protection and assistance.

The growing number of minors is surprising in a context that is roughly unchanged in terms of overall numbers of arrivals, according to Soda. Total arrivals of adults and minors in Italy this year have been roughly the same as last year. There were 47,851 arrivals between 1 January and 31 May 2016, compared to 47,452 during the same period in 2015.