大象传媒

The number of people killed crossing from North Africa to Italy and Malta has reached a six-year high. The United Nation's International Organisation for Migration has announced that more than 400 people had lost their lives making the crossing this year alone, with the true total believed to be higher.

Search and rescue is becoming harder, with NGOs reporting that their crews are being threatened by coastguards or having their boats seized when they return to land. 大象传媒 Newsday heard more on this from Julia Black, co-ordinator of the International Organisation for Migration's Missing Migrant Project.

鈥淲e have documented more than 440 deaths so far this year just in the central Mediterranean crossing and this is the most鈥� since 2017. The challenge is the lack of search and rescue. Fundamentally there is a mismatch to manage emigration鈥� and the reality on the ground that people are risking their lives every day.鈥�

鈥淲ithout more legal routes I don鈥檛 see this changing. This is not just limited to Europe. This is a global mismanagement鈥� a global trend. 鈥�

(Pic: A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan immigrants lands at a beach on the Greek island of Kos in 2015; Credit: Reuters)

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