More than 1,200 people have drowned while seeking a new life in the Mediterranean in the first four months of 2016, International Office of Migration statistics show.

The IOM reckons that an estimated 181,476 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea this year. 1,232 of them didn’t survive.

Just last week, UNHCR reported that as many as 500 men, women and children had drowned after a large boat carrying them to Italy had capsized off the Libyan coast. Survivors drifted at sea for several days before being picked up by rescue vessels and taken to Crete.

The IOM this morning learned of reports of corpses being retrieved off the Libyan coast near Garabulli. It is not known whether these may be victims of last week’s shipwreck or from a different incident.

Almost 7,500 people have arrived in Italy by sea in April alone, with a further 1,130 having been rescued by Italian authorities on the high seas. According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, 26,228 migrants arrived in Italy between 1 January and 30 April 2015.

Malta has seen no boat arrivals this year and only 93 migrants were brought in last year. 

However, migration experts have warned of the possibility of an increase in the number of people seeking to make it to Europe through the central Mediterranean this summer, following an EU-Turkey deal that has made it harder for asylum seekers to enter Europe by land.