In a vast graveyard converted the Mediterranean with hundreds of people loosing their lives in an attempt to reach the coast of Italy, Greece, Malta and Spain.
According to a report by the UN High Commission for Refugees, more than 800 immigrants died in 2014, while only in the last ten days more than 260 people were tragically killed in the seas of the Mediterranean.
According to the UN, the survivors carry shocking stories of their travels, in despair to escape from war zones, seeking a better future for themselves and their families.
Many do not succeed and those who survive are talking about group drowning, suffocation, even deadly attacks with knives, with tragic consequence the death of over than 800 since the beginning of the year, compared with 600 deaths in 2013 and 500 in 2012.
UN notes at their report that “the tragedies mark an escalation of the crisis on European shores, while many are leaving Eritrea, Syria and other countries due to violence and seek refuge in Europe risking their lives at the hands of traffickers. The sharp increase in accidents in recent weeks has mobilized the European countries to call for extraordinary measures in order to develop a plan to prevent similar tragedies “.
Over 75,000 refugees and immigrants have arrived in Italy, Greece, Spain and Malta by sea during the first half of 2014 which is 25% more compared to the 60.000 who made the same trip in 2013, and three times more than the 22,500 of 2012.
Italy received the largest number of immigrants (63,884), followed by Greece (10,080), Spain (1,000) and Malta (227), while an additional 21,000 refugees have arrived in Italy from the 1st of July onwards, of which most were from Eritrea, Syria, Mali and Libya.
At the same time, shocking is the numbers of children who arrived in Italy in the first six months of 2014 as they reach the 10,563, of which 3,676 were from Syria while 6,500 of them, mostly from Erithrea were unaccompanied or separated from their families.
