The UN Migration Agency have reported that, over 1,000 people died in 2017 while trying to cross the Mediterranean from Libya to the Southern coasts of Italy.
According to the agency 43,357 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through 26 April, over 80 percent arriving in Italy and the rest in Spain and Greece.
This compares with 182,022 arrivals through 26 April 2016. A total of 1,089 migrants died, 1002 of them crossing from Libya.
Based on data included in the Round 8 DTM Migration information package, 380,000 migrants were present in Libya between December 2016 and March 2017, the UN agency reported.
IOM has also found that the trip to Libya is reportedly costing more for a larger proportion of migrants from Sudan and Nigeria. In 2016, 60 percent of Nigerian respondents and 41 percent of Sudanese respondents reported paying between USD 1,000 and 5,000 for their journey to Libya.
This increased to 71 percent of Nigerian respondents and 64 percent of Sudanese respondents in the first few months of 2017. This data was collected through Flow Monitoring surveys conducted among with 1,314 migrants.
The package provides a holistic overview of resident and mobile migrants in Libya.
It presents data on migrants’ demographic characteristics, journeys, intentions, relations with the host community, documentation status, educational and vocational backgrounds. The data builds on Libya 2016 Migration Profiles and Trends, which was published in March.
