Ukraine in Arabic | UN: thousands of migrants died crossing the Mediterranean
KYIV/Ukraine in Arabic/ It is the deadliest route for people fleeing in search of a better life. And this year the Mediterranean has claimed record numbers with 3,419 migrants killed in 2014 trying to make the perilous journey to Europe, many travelling in rickety, unseaworthy boats.
The figures were announced today, Wednesday 10th December, by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) at the 2014 High Commissioner’s Dialogue in Geneva, an informal forum for the discussion of policies. The priority of the meeting was ‘Sea Protection’.
There it was revealed that 207,000 people attempted the deadly journey across the Mediterranean in 2014, a figure which is nearly three times the previous record of 70,000 in 2011, at the peak of the Libyan civil war.
“These figures show a new development we’re seeing this year: there is an arc of conflicts around the Mediterranean and Europe has been directly targeted,” said UN spokesperson Adrian Edwards, according to Le Figaro.
The refugees escaped war-torn countries such as Libya, Ukraine and Iraq, with the aim of finding a better life in Europe.
For most of the refugees undertaking these sea crossings, Italy was the final destination. 80% of the 207,000 cases represent those who fled from the Libyan coast to try and settle in Italy and Malta.
Syrians made up 60,051 of the total, as a result of ongoing conflicts in the country, while 34,561 were Eritreans, fleeing to escape brutal repression, a life of military service or forced, unpaid labor.
In addition to the Mediterranean, at least three other major routes are now used by refugees fleeing from their countries, including crossings in the region of the Horn of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
At the meeting, High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that governments have found themselves unable to contain the flow, or prevent the number of deaths on the sea crossings.
“You cannot use methods of deterrence to try and prevent a person fleeing for their life, except by increasing the dangers,” said Guterres.
“We must address the real root causes, that is to say, look at the reasons why people flee and why they are prevented from seeking asylum by safer methods and what can be done to take action against the criminal networks which thrive in this field, while protecting victims.”
Guterres also raised another issue, claiming that governments were too focused on keeping foreigners out of their country, to the detriment of refugees’ lives.
“It’s a mistake and precisely the wrong response at a time when a record number of people are fleeing war,” he said.
“All countries have security and migration management concerns, but policies should be designed to prevent lives becoming collateral damage.”
