at least 441 migrants have died at sea since the start of the year, the heaviest toll since 2017

Several hundred drownings on the road to exile. The first quarter of 2023 has been the deadliest for migrants crossing the Mediterranean since 2017. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Wednesday April 12 that at least 441 lives were lost trying to reach Europe. This toll increased further shortly after the announcement, with the death of ten people in the sinking of their boat off Tunisia, according to the Tunisian coast guard.

This heavy total is explained in particular by the multiplication of crossings. Since the start of the year, 31,192 migrants have reached Europe using this route, compared to around 8,000 during the same period in 2022, according to the UN agency. For its part, the European Border Surveillance Agency, Frontex, estimates that illegal border crossings in the central Mediterranean reached almost 28,000 in the first quarter of 2023, three times more than during the same period of 2022.

IOM says delays in search and rescue operations have been a contributing factor in at least six accidents so far this year, resulting in the deaths of at least 127 of the 441 people. “The complete lack of response during a seventh rescue operation has claimed the lives of at least 73 migrants”, adds the UN organization. Migrants using this route most often originate from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Pakistan.

About 300 other people missing

“With over 20,000 deaths recorded on this road since 2014, I fear these deaths have been normalized”worries the head of the IOM, Antonio Vitorino. “The continuing humanitarian crisis in the central Mediterranean is intolerable”he insists, adding that “delays and shortcomings in state-led search and rescue operations are costing lives”.

The UN agency is also investigating several cases of missing boats, where there are no traces of survivors, debris and where no search and rescue operations have been carried out. Some 300 people on board these boats are still missing, the organization said.