Almost 240,000 immigrants crossed Mediterranean Sea to Europe in 2015

The number of immigrants who crossed the Mediterranean to reach Europe so far this year is now at 237,000. The number has already exceeded the total of those who managed to cross last year, said today the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The average daily number of rescues in Mediterranean waters has hit a thousand. Most of these rescues concentrate mainly on the coasts of islands of Italy and Greece. Just today, the European Commissioner for Immigration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, said that the world is facing “the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War”, and called on Europe to assist them in a “decent” and “civilized ” way. “The number of immigrants and asylum seekers who have arrived in Europe by sea in 2015 is approaching a quarter of a million, according to analysis by IOM,” said his spokesman Joel Millman. At this rate, immigrants who have managed to cross the Mediterranean will reach 250,000 this month. Throughout 2014, a total of 219,000 immigrants completed the perilous journey in search of a better life in Europe. Deaths in the Mediterranean have also set a record this year and the two wrecks recorded in the last week -from boats on their way to Italy- increased the number of deaths to 2,030 people, said the organization. The latest incident occurred earlier this week, when a rubber boat began to deflate because of the weight and the heat. When everything was said and done 120 occupants had drowned. The latest figures from the Greek authorities indicate that 134,988 immigrants arrived this year into its territory from Turkey, while Italy received another 93,540 immigrants. In the latter country, most immigrants are of Eritrean nationality, accounting for more than 25,000 individuals. Far behind appear immigrants from Nigeria, with about 12,000 cases, which are followed by people from of Somalia, Syria, Gambia and Bangladesh. Read the rest below at the source link