The International Organization for Migration (IOM) today, Wednesday, July 14, 2021 called on states to take urgent action as the number of migrants who have died at sea trying to reach Europe more than doubled so far this year.

According to Statistics released by the IOM in a new report, at least 1,146 people died at sea trying to reach Europe in the first half of 2021. This represents a 123.4 percentage point rise over the 513 people who lost their lives in a similar manner in the corresponding period of 2020. The MOI statistics further show that about 674 died trying to reach Europe by seain the first half of 2019.

Unfortunately, the report highlights that ‘’civilian search and rescue organizations continued to face significant obstacles’’. According to the report, majority of their vessels got stranded in European ports, largely due to administrative seizures and ongoing criminal and administrative proceedings against crew members.

Meanwhile, the report comes at a time when interceptions of boats carrying migrants off the North African coast are on the rise. In a statement, Director General of the IOM, Antonio Vitorino reiterated the call on states to “take urgent and proactive steps to reduce loss of life on maritime migration routes to Europe, and uphold their obligations under international law”.

“Increasing search-and-rescue (SAR) efforts, establishing predictable disembarkation mechanisms, and ensuring access to safe and legal migration pathways are key steps towards achieving this goal”.

Major routes

People attempting to cross to Europe via the Mediterranean increased by 58% between January and June this year, compared with the same period in the previous year.

Meanwhile, the report produced by the Missing Migrants Project at IOM’s Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, shows increased deaths coupled with insufficient SAR operations in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic route to the Canary Islands, where interceptions off the North African coast are also rising.

In the first half of this year, most of the men, women and children who died trying to reach Europe were attempting to cross the Mediterranean, where 896 deaths were documented. Of the total, at least 741 died on the Central Mediterranean route, while 149 lost their lives crossing the Western Mediterranean, and six on the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece.

In the same period, some 250 people drowned attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands on the West Africa-Atlantic route. Worryingly, the IOM said “Count may be low”.

Rescue operations

According to the report, Non-governmental organizations in direct contact with those on board or with families have reported hundreds of cases of invisible shipwrecks – which are extremely difficult to verify, and indicate that deaths on maritime routes to Europe are far higher than the available data.

Furthermore, the report shows an increase for the second straight year in North African states’ maritime operations along the Central Mediterranean route. More than 31,500 people were intercepted or rescued by North African authorities in the first half of 2021, compared with 23,117 in the first six months of 2020.

Such operations off the coast of Tunisia increased by 90% in the first six months of 2021, compared with the corresponding period in 2020. Over 15,300 people were returned to Libya in the first six months of this year, almost three times higher than the same period last year (5,476 people).