3 000 Africans die trying to cross into Europe in 2014

Konye Obaji Ori* More than 3,000 African migrants have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean sea into Europe, this year alone, a new study has revealed. According to a study conducted by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), conflicts in the Middle East and parts of Africa have sparked an exodus of desperate people trying to reach Europe. “Limited opportunities for safe and regular migration drive would-be migrants into the hands of smugglers, feeding an unscrupulous trade that threatens the lives of desperate people. “We need to put an end to this cycle,” IOM director-general William Lacy Swing said in a statement. Europe has become the most dangerous destination for “irregular” migrants. The number of dead immigrants have increased immensely from 2011. Experts say the high toll reflects a dramatic increase in the number of migrants trying to reach Europe. Since January, 4,077 migrant deaths have occurred worldwide with 75% of fatalities happening in Europe. In mid-September, a migrant boat carrying 500 passengers sank near Malta after smugglers deliberately rammed their boat. The IOM’s 216-page report asserts that only a few countries keep information on missing migrants or their deaths. In many cases migrants often disappear and die without a trace, and their families never know their fate. In October 2013, about 360 mainly Eritrean migrants drowned in a shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa More than 40,000 migrants have died since 2000. Of the toll, 22,000 were trying to reach Europe. “It is time to engage the world to stop this violence against desperate migrants,” Swing told reporters on Monday. The going price for crossing the Mediterranean is between $2,000 and $4,000 a person. *Source theafricareport]]>