More than 2,500 migrants have died or gone missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe since the beginning of the year, according to the United Nations.
During a Security Council meeting dedicated to the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean, the Director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in New York, Ruven Menikdiwela, confirmed, “As of September 24, over 2,500 people have been counted as dead or missing in 2023.”
She noted that “this number represents an increase of two-thirds compared to 1680 people during the same period in 2022” and emphasized that “lives are also being lost on land away from the public eye.”
The UNHCR reports that between January and August, over 102,000 refugees and migrants from Tunisia—a 260% increase from the previous year—and over 45,000 from Libya attempted to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe. Approximately 31,000 were rescued at sea or intercepted and disembarked in Tunisia, while 10,600 disembarked in Libya.
The majority of migrants and refugees reaching southern Europe arrived in Italy—exceeding 130,000, marking an 83% increase compared to the same period in 2022. Others landed in Greece, Spain, Cyprus, and Malta.