Migrants arriving on Italy's Lampedusa Island after crossing the Mediterranean on a dilapidated boat. [UNHCR/F.Noy][/caption]Over 45,000 migrants risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean to Italy and Malta in 2013 according to the International Organization for Migration, (IOM).

The arrivals are the highest since 2008, with the exception of 2011 - the year of the Libyan crisis.

Most of the migrants came from Syria followed by Eritrea and Somalia.

Over 20,000 people have died in the past twenty years trying to reach the Italian coast.

Patrick Maigua asked Flavio Di Giacomo of the IOM about the upsurge in arrivals.

Duration: 4'34"