One Million Migrants Traveled to Europe by Sea in 2015
More than one million refugees and migrants braved the seas in 2015 seeking sanctuary in Europe, nearly five times more than in the previous year, the United Nations' refugee agency said on Wednesday. About half of the 1,000,573 men, women and children who made the perilous journey came from war-torn Syria, while Afghans accounted for roughly a fifth, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency said in a statement. Most people who took to the water for Europe made their way on the Aegean Sea to Greece's islands from Turkey, it said. From Greece, many travel to wealthier western Europe. A photograph of a 3-year-old Syrian boy who drowned trying to reach Greece with his family in September appeared around the world, prompting sympathy and outrage over the refugee crisis.
Rescue Ships Head for Libya, as Migrants Die Also in Balkans
British and German warships made ready to sail for waters off Libya as Europe ramped up rescue operations in the Mediterranean after up to 900 desperate migrants drowned last weekend on a boat heading for Italy. Yet hours after European Union leaders agreed in Brussels on Thursday to treble funding for EU maritime missions and pledged more ships and aircraft, 14 clandestine migrants were killed when a train ploughed into dozens of Somalis and Afghans making their way in darkness along a rail track in a Macedonian gorge. The incident highlighted the variety of routes that growing numbers are taking to escape war and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East and chance their luck in a wealthy region that offers, at best, a chilly welcome.
UN Urges Europe to Put Asylum at Center of Migrant Debate
The U.N. refugee agency on Tuesday urged European leaders to put the protection of migrants at the center of debate over the crisis in the Mediterranean and to do more to help Greece and Italy cope. After as many as 900 people drowned in a ship off the coast of Libya this weekend, EU ministers on Monday called an extraordinary summit for Thursday and made an action plan. More than 36,000 have tried to cross the Mediterranean this year, the UNHCR says, mostly from Libya, and nearly 1,800 are feared to have died in the attempt. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed the plan as a good start but noted its emphasis on law enforcement.
UN: EU Should Do More in Med Migrant Crisis
UN refugee agency calls for intra-European solidarity. The U.N. refugee agency on Tuesday urged European leaders to do more to help Greece and Italy cope with the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and to put protection of people at the centre of debate. After up to 900 died in the worst known shipwreck yet, European Union ministers on Monday set out a 10-point action plan and called an extraordinary summit of EU leaders for Thursday. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed the plan as a good beginning while noting its emphasis on law enforcement. "Obviously the devil is in the detail. We need to make sure that the asylum component and the protection of people component is one that is prioritised within these measures," Volker Turk, assistant U.N.
Death Toll From Mediterranean Crossings Rises to 50 in 2015
Inadequate naval patrols means ever more migrants from Africa and the Middle East will die trying to cross the Mediterranean, aid agencies warned on Tuesday, as Italy appealed for a "more vigorous" European response to tackle the crisis. The death toll in the Mediterranean since the start of the year stands at 50 against just 12 in the same period in 2014. In the latest tragedy involving migrants, 29 people died of hypothermia on Monday on the exposed deck of a small Italian naval vessel after it rescued them in rough seas from a dinghy adrift near Libya.
More than 60 Migrants Drown in Boat Sinking off Yemen
At least 60 African migrants and two Yemeni crew perished in the treacherous waters off Yemen's coast last weekend, in a boat sinking that has just come to light and is believed to be the deadliest there this year, the United Nations said on Friday. In the first four months of this year, 16,500 migrants and refugees, mainly Somalis, Ethiopians and Eritreans, have crossed the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to land in Yemen, seen as a gateway to a better life in the Middle East, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said. About twice as many crossed in the same period last year. "We are still seeking information, but it is now confirmed that a boat carrying 60 people from Somalia and Ethiopia and two Yemeni crew sank last Saturday in the Red Sea…
