Flyktingar räddas på Medelhavet i augusti. (Darko Bandic / TT / NTB Scanpix)

IOM: Medelhavet är nu världens dödligaste gräns

Mer än 33 000 flyktingar och migranter har sedan år 2000 dött till havs när de försök att ta sig till Europa, vilket gör Medelhavet till världens farligaste gräns. Det meddelar den internationella migrationsorganisationen IOM, skriver Reuters.

Hittills i år har över 161 000 personer tagit sig till Europa genom att korsa Medelhavet, omkring 75 procent av dessa tog sig till Italien medan resten anlände i Grekland, Cypern och Spanien. Omkring 3 000 människor har dött eller saknas.

– Att stänga de kortare och mindre farliga vägarna kan öppna för längre och mer farliga rutter, vilket ökar sannolikheter för att de dör till havs, säger Philippe Fargues, professor vid Europeiska universitetsinstitutet i Florens.

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International Organization for Migration
Wikipedia (en)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is an intergovernmental organization that provides services and advice concerning migration to governments and migrants, including internally displaced persons, refugees, and migrant workers. As of September 2016, it became a related organization of the United Nations. It was initially established in 1951 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) to help resettle people displaced by World War II. As of June 2016, the International Organization for Migration has 166 member states and 8 observer states. It is the principal intergovernmental organization in the field of migration. IOM's stated mission is to promote humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. IOM works to help ensure the orderly and humane management of migration, to promote international cooperation on migration issues, to assist in the search for practical solutions to migration problems and to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants in need, be they refugees, displaced persons or other uprooted people. The IOM Constitution gives explicit recognition to the link between migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement of persons. IOM works in the four broad areas of migration management: migration and development, facilitating migration, regulating migration, and addressing forced migration. Cross-cutting activities include the promotion of international migration law, policy debate and guidance, protection of migrants’ rights, migration health and the gender dimension of migration. In addition, IOM has often organized elections for refugees out of their home country, as was the case in the 2004 Afghan elections and the 2005 Iraqi elections. IOM works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
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