Mediterranean Migrant Arrivals in 2016: 160,547; Deaths: 488

Greece,23 March. - (ANA) - IOM this week confirms more than one million migrant and refugee arrivals to the Greek islands via the Eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey since the start of 2015. Earlier this month IOM confirmed combined land and sea arrivals surpassed the one million mark in Greece.

Over the past four years, IOM reports, 1.4 million migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean via three principal routes linking Europe to North Africa and Turkey. During that same period, IOM has recorded deaths at sea at over 8,100. Most of those deaths have occurred on the Central Mediterranean route linking Italy and North Africa. Nearly one thousand migrants or refugees are believed to have perished on the Eastern Mediterranean route. Hundreds more have drowned attempting the crossing to Europe via Spanish waters. - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 23 March 2016 - - -