Geneva – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, reports that 111,514 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 19 July, with almost 85 per cent arriving in Italy and the remainder divided between Greece, Cyprus and Spain. This compares with 244,722 arrivals across the region through 19 July 2016.

IOM Spain’s Ana Dodevska reported on 20 July that there have been 7,514 arrivals this year by sea, a number slightly lower than the 10,751 Spanish authorities released on Wednesday – a statistic that includes migrants and refugees arriving by land at Spain’s twin enclaves on the African continent, Melilla and Ceuta.

IOM Libya’s Christine Petré also reported Thursday the remains of one man were discovered close to Subratah on Thursday 20 July. That raises the total number of bodies retrieved this year to 349. At the same time the number of rescued in Libyan waters so far this year reached 11,122. Last year at this time the figure was 11,233.

These latest fatalities bring the Mediterranean total to 2,360. Although this figure trails the number of deaths (2,996) recorded this time last year, it nonetheless marks the fourth consecutive year migrant deaths on the Mediterranean Sea have exceeded 2,350.

Worldwide, the IOM Missing Migrants Project (MMP) reports that there have been 3,269 fatalities in 2017 through 19 July (see chart below) with the Mediterranean region accounting for the largest proportion of deaths – almost three quarters of the global total.

MMP regional figures today record: victims in three train accidents in Mexico (in Chiapas, in Mexicali, and in Coahuila); three drownings on the Texas–Mexico border along the Rio Bravo (in Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo, and Brownsville); one incident at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in which five Haitian migrants (including a baby) drowned in an irrigation canal; and one body found near Mojácar, Almería, Spain.

For the latest Mediterranean Update infographic: http://migration.iom.int/docs/MMP/170721_Mediterranean_Update.pdf

For latest arrivals and fatalities in the Mediterranean, please visit: http://migration.iom.int/europe

Learn more about the Missing Migrants Project at: http://missingmigrants.iom.int

For more information, please contact:
Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: +41 79 103 8720, Email: jmillman@iom.int
Flavio Di Giacomo at IOM Italy, Tel: +39 347 089 8996, Email: fdigiacomo@iom.int
Kelly Namia at IOM Greece, Tel: +30 210 991 2174, Email: knamia@iom.int
Julia Black at IOM GMDAC, Tel: +49 30 278 778 27, Email: jblack@iom.int
Christine Petré at IOM Libya, Tel: +216 29 240 448, Email: chpetre@iomint   
Ana Dodevska, IOM Spain, Tel: +34 91 445 7116, Email: adodevska@iom.int