More than 3,000 migrants have
died so far this year trying to cross the Mediterranean – the highest total on
record. The official figure for 2014 so far is 3,072, though some claim the true
number is three times as high.
Across the world, the official
figure is 4,077, meaning three in every four of those who perished were trying
to get to Europe. Since 2000, 40,000 migrants are said to have perished
worldwide – more than half of them trying to get to Europe.
The worst incident of 2014 was
the apparently deliberate ramming of a ship earlier this month by people
traffickers off Malta, which resulted in 500 people being drowned.
The ship had been carrying Syrians,
Palestinians, Egyptians and Sudanese, and survivors said it was rammed after a ‘violent
confrontation’ on board.
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