Some 2,000 Migrants Cross Mediterranean into Europe Daily in January

A handout picture provided by the Spanish Defense minister shows the boat in which 174 migrants travel as they try to reach Spain from Libya`s coast in the Mediterranean sea on 26 December 2015. EPA/BGNES

A total of 55,528 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe during the first 28 days of the year, according to estimates of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The daily average rate of arrivals is almost 2,000 – “nearly equivalent to the total numbers for the month of January as recently as two years ago,” the IOM announced in a statement on Friday.

Some 244 deaths at sea have been recorded by the IOM during the same period – a three-fold increase compared with the 82 deaths registered on Mediterranean Sea routes last year.

The latest deaths were recorded on Wednesday and Thursday, the IOM said. Seven migrants died on Wednesday off the Greek island of Kos and another 26 on Thursday off Samos, following shipwrecks.

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