IOM records big surge in migrants arriving in Italy

IOM records big surge in migrants arriving in Italy
By Catherine Hardy with Reuters
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
Copy/paste the article video embed link below:Copy to clipboardCopied

Figures from the International Organisation for Migration suggest there was a big surge in migrant arrivals in Italy between the 14th and the 20th of November.

The latest

ADVERTISEMENT

A ship carrying 600 rescued migrants to safety has arrived in the Italian port of Catania.

The vessel, operated by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres), was also carrying eight bodies.

More than a thousand

More than a thousand migrants fleeing to Europe were rescued from the Mediterranean by the Italian coastguard between Tuesday, November 22 and Wednesday, November 23.

Tuesday

On Tuesday, the coastguard conducted 12 separate rescue missions, saving an estimated 1,397 people.

Eight bodies were recovered during the day, according to reports.

The numbers

Figures from the International Organisation for Migration suggest there was a big surge in migrant arrivals in Italy between the 14th and the 20th of November.

  • 879 between 6-13 of November
  • 3,674 between 14-20 of November
  • An increase of 318%

.UNmigration</a> : 345k migrants have arrived to Europe by sea this year. A shocking number have died trying - over 4k <a href="https://t.co/KGvUeOlcN1">https://t.co/KGvUeOlcN1</a></p>&mdash; UNICEF (UNICEF) November 23, 2016

The nationalities of those arriving in Italy are mainly Nigerian, Eritrean, Gambian, Ivory Coast and Guinea.

The organisation estimates that up until November 20, 2016, 4,646 people have died or are missing in the Mediterranean.

There has been an increase in the number of recorded arrivals in Greece in the same time period, from 393 to 711.

However, arrivals in Bulgaria have dropped from 306 to 221.

Italy has borne the brunt of new arrivals since the implementation in March of an agreement between the EU and Turkey to curb the flow of people sailing for Greece.

Full details can be found here

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Italy unveils new plan to improve worker safety after construction site disaster

The oldest country in Europe: What’s behind Italy’s ageing problem?

Giulio Regeni was brutally killed in Egypt 8 years ago. Why is nobody in jail for his murder?