2015 migrant death toll to rise 10-fold year-on-year: IOM
There seems to be no end in sight to the migrant crisis engulfing Europe.
The influx of migrants to the European Union from Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia is on the rise as they venture across the Mediterranean Sea and the Balkans in hope of living a better life.
However, the migrants, most of them refugees, are dicing with death as they are crammed onto overcrowded boats by human-traffickers and are left at the mercy of rough waters.
Over 1,750 migrants have perished in the Mediterranean since the start of 2015, registering a 30-fold rise year on year, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The IOM has warned that, based on current figures, the migrant death toll on the Mediterranean this year could top 30,000.
"IOM now fears that the 2014 total of 3,279 migrant deaths may be surpassed this year in a matter of weeks," the group said in a statement.
According to EU statistics, hundreds of thousands of migrants -- many fleeing war and persecution in countries like Syria -- have poured into the 28-member EU this year alone.
According to the EU border control agency, Frontex, 107,500 migrants were waiting for entry at EU borders last month alone.
Earlier this year, the EU approved $2.6 billion in funding to help member states cope with the overflow of migrants.
Macedonia allows 1500 migrants in
More than 1,500 mostly Syrian refugees, trapped in no-man's land for three days, entered Macedonia from Greece on Saturday.
Police allowed the migrants to pass despite earlier attempts to hold them back using stun grenades.
The dash across the border came as Italy’s coastguard on Saturday rescued another 3,000 migrants in the Mediterranean after receiving distress calls from more than 20 overcrowded vessels drifting in waters off Libya.
Some 104,000 migrants and refugees have landed on Italian shores so far this year, while Greece has seen an influx of around 150,000 people, according to the IMO.
Thousands more, mostly from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, are expected to arrive in Macedonia in the coming days after being ferried to the Greek mainland from the islands.
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