Wet grave the Mediterranean as well More than 1.000 migrants have drowned since January on the main maritime migration route connecting Africa with the European Union, as announced by the United Nations.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement that it was "shocked" by the "mass drownings in Libya" and called for "urgent international action to step up rescue efforts at sea."
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grady, specifically stated,
"These tragic deaths remind us that war and poverty continue to push people to try to travel in desperate conditions, which cost them their economies, their dignity" and in countless cases "ultimately, their lives". It has never been so urgent to tackle the root causes (of displacement and irregular migration), to improve conditions in Libya and other countries along the road, to offer safe alternative routes and to continue rescuing people in sea".
According to the UNHCR, more than 200 migrants drowned in the central Mediterranean on June 19th and 20th in three maritime tragedies.