Almost 182,000 Migrants Enter Europe by Sea since Start of 2016

Greek Coast Guard members help migrants to disembark at the port of Kalmata, in South Peloponnese, Greece, 17 April 2016. Photo EPA/BGNES

An estimated 181,476 migrants and refugees have entered Europe this year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on April 26.

This compared with 52,750 migrant arrivals in Europe across the Mediterranean and Western African routes between January 1 through April 30 last year.

Most of the 2016 arrivals, 154,491, have been reported in Greece (as of April 24).

Italy followed with 25,894 (as of April 25), which is a slight increase compared with 26,228 migrants who arrived in the country between January 1 and April 30 last year.

There were 1,063 arrivals in Spain (as of March 31), compared with a total of 3,845 in January-December 2015.

Greece, by far the most busy destination for hundreds of thousands of migrants, has experienced a sharp decline in the number of arrivals in April, IOM said. Just 223 migrants in total have reportedly arrived on the Greek islands from April 22 through April 24.

Even though the total number of migrant arrivals has increased compared to last year, fatalites have decreased. Latest fatalities stand at 1,232, compared with 1,733 in the first four months of 2015, according to IOM data.

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