Deaths of migrants travelling by dangerous sea routes to Europe have soared in the first six months of the year. At least 1,146 people died attempting to reach Europe by boat from January to June, the UN migration agency, IOM said on Wednesday.
UN Catch-Up takes us from talks over the divided eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, to the deadly stretch of water that separates North Africa from Europe, scene of a particularly disturbing migrant shipwreck this week.
We’ll also hear an alert from UNICEF in the Central African Republic over ongoing violence that’s leaving youngsters vulnerable to exploitation – and a warning from the UN agency for sexual and reproductive health, over the devastating consequences for women, girls and their families from the UK’s $180 million funding cut.
A shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea that claimed the lives of 130 migrants last week, has reignited the debate about why more can’t be done to protect these vulnerable people who’ve risked everything.
With the details about this latest tragedy which happened just off the Libyan coast, here’s Safa Msehli, from the UN migration agency, IOM, speaking to UN News’s Daniel Johnson.
UN refugee agency, UNHCR, called on Thursday for an end to “systematic” expulsions and pushbacks of refugees and asylum-seekers at Europe’s land and sea borders.
