The Mediterranean Sea may allure tourists but it also harbours a sinister side, with the UN refugee agency estimating that more than 1,500 migrants drowned or went missing last year trying to reach Europe.
Survivors told UNHCR staff harrowing stories of being forced onboard by armed guards
According to the agency, 2011 was the deadliest year for the Mediterranean region since it started to record these statistics six years ago.
The statistics released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees cover a tumultuous year for the Mediterranean region that witnessed uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and a deadly conflict in Libya.
The previous high was in 2007 when 630 people were reported dead or missing.
The agency said that last year more than 58,000 people reached Europe via the Mediterranean, making it a record year for arrivals.
Four years ago 54,000 people made it to Greece, Italy and Malta but the numbers dropped significantly during 2009 and 2010 following stricter border control measures that included a deal between Italy and Libya to push-back migrants.
However, the frequency of boat arrivals increased in early 2011 as the regimes in Tunisia and Libya collapsed.
But the number of deaths may actually be higher, the UNHCR said, with estimates based on interviews with people who reached Europe on boats, telephone calls and e-mails from relatives, as well as reports from Libya and Tunisia from survivors whose boats either sank or were in distress in the early stages of the journey.
“Survivors told UNHCR staff harrowing stories of being forced on board by armed guards, particularly during April and May in Libya,” the UNHCR said.
Journeys took place on unseaworthy vessels with refugee and migrant passengers often forced into skippering the boats themselves, the agency added.
Some survivors even told the UNHCR that fellow passengers beat and tortured them and judicial investigations are ongoing in Italy following these reports.
The figures show the majority of last year’s arrivals by sea landed in Italy (56,000, of whom 28,000 were Tunisian), whileMalta and Greece received 1,574 and 1,030 respectively. Most of those who arrived were migrants not asylum seekers.
Only three boats landed between mid-August and the end of the year but the UNHCR said it was “disturbed” by the fact that in the first weeks of 2012, despite high seas and poor weather conditions, three boats have embarked on the perilousjourney from Libya.
One of the boats, carrying at least 55 people, went missing at sea after raisingthe alarm on January 14, warning ofengine failure.
The UNHCR said the Libyan coastguards informed it that 15 dead bodies, all identified as Somali, were found washed up on the beaches last week. They included 12 women, two men and a baby girl,while three more bodies were recoveredon Sunday.
The UNHCR has confirmed that all those who died were Somali residents of the makeshift site in Tripoli known as theRailway Project.
The other two boats made it to Malta and Italy after being rescued. The first rescue by the Italian coast guard of 72 Somalis, including a pregnant woman and 29 children, took place on January 13.
The second boat was rescued bythe Armed Forces of Malta two days later with the support of the US Navy and acommercial vessel.
The dinghy with 68 people on board, including a mother who had just given birth, was found drifting some 56 nautical miles from Malta.
“UNHCR welcomes the ongoing efforts of the Italian, Maltese and Libyan authorities to rescue boats in distress in the Mediterranean,” the agency said, renewing a call to all shipmasters in the Mediterranean to remain vigilant and carry out their duty of rescuing vessels in distress.