Press. voanews.com.
A
dramatic upsurge has taken place in the number of migrant deaths, mainly from
West Africa, on the perilous Mediterranean sea crossing between Libya and the
Italian island of Lampedusa.
The
International Organization for Migration reports at least 365 people have
disappeared and are presumed dead after at least six incidents in the
Mediterranean in the past three days. It says that brings the number of migrant
deaths in the Mediterranean this year to a record 4,636.
IOM
spokesman Leonard Doyle calls this a calamity in plain sight. “In November, we
have 365 deaths that we have counted. So, this is six times higher than the
deaths last year in that month ," said Doyle. " Overall, we are counting
1,000 more migrant deaths in the Mediterranean compared to the same period last
year. So, over the stretch of the year from January to November, 1000 extra
deaths and six times more in November alone.”
Doyle
says deaths on the Mediterranean are surging because the migrants are making
the dangerous sea crossing in poor weather and rough conditions. Survivors say
smugglers are forcing migrants to get on board unsafe rubber dinghies, which
take on water and gradually sink.
“Migrants
assuming and paying in the hope and expectation that they will get a decent
passage across the Mediterranean, coming down to the beach and being confronted
with a rubber raft and not having any options sometimes, physical restraints
and then even going back," said Doyle. "So, the situation is clearly
alarming.”
Doyle
says there are few happy endings for migrants who survive the arduous journey
and arrive safely in Italy. He tells VOA their expectations of having a good
life in Europe and sending money home to their families is rarely realized.
He says
most of the requests for asylum from migrants who come from Gambia, Nigeria,
Senegal, Mali and elsewhere in West Africa are rejected. Doyle says they are
regarded as economic migrants and are either deported or forced to live underground
in the European Union.
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