"The UN Migration Agency (IOM) reports that 83,928 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2017 through June 21, with almost 85 per cent arriving in Italy and the remainder divided between Greece, Cyprus and Spain. This compares with 215,997 arrivals across the region through 21 June 2016," the IOM press release read.
The number of migrants' arrivals increased almost by 10,000, compared to the data in the previous IOM report, issued on June 13.
The IOM pointed out that 71,978 migrants arrived in Italy, while 2,011 people died en route to the country. The agency also registered 8,363 migrants’ arrivals in Greece.
According to the press release, a total of 2,108 migrants died in the Mediterranean while trying to cross the sea since January 1, which is less than in the same period last year, when 2,911 people died en route to Europe.
Since 2015, Europe has been experiencing the worst migration crisis in its history, struggling to accommodate hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants fleeing hostilities in the Middle Eastern and North African countries.
