A total of 107,546 migrants have entered Europe by sea in the period from January 1 to December 18, which represents a 5-percent decrease in Mediterranean arrivals compared to the same period of 2018, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th December, 2019) A total of 107,546 migrants have entered Europe by sea in the period from January 1 to December 18, which represents a 5-percent decrease in Mediterranean arrivals compared to the same period of 2018, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday."IOM reports that 107,546 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea through 18 December, roughly a 5 per cent decrease from the 112,836 arriving during the same period last year," the IOM said in a press release.
According to the IOM data, arrivals to Greece and Spain are accounting for 79 percent of the total amount of arrivals in the region. At the same time, the number of migrants entering Greece by sea in 2019 has almost doubled compared to the last year, while arrivals in Spain in 2019 have nearly halved.
The IOM said that a total of 1,246 migrants died on Mediterranean Sea routes in 2019 compared to 2,219 deaths last year.
Since 2015, Europe has been experiencing its worst migration crisis in recent history, struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing hostilities in middle Eastern and North African countries. However, over recent years, the flow of migrants has been steadily decreasing due to various factors, including the winding down of the war in Syria and several European countries embracing stricter border security and immigration policies.
