Six people died daily trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2018

In the same way, he points out that the changes made to the immigration policies of some European countries have caused the blocking of a large number of people on the high seas for long periods, waiting for a long time. landing authorization.

The study also highlights a decrease in arrivals on European coasts compared to 2017 and 131% increase in the western route which includes Spain.

Changes to itineraries

For the first time in recent years, Spain has paved the way for the entry of migrants and refugees into Europe with 8,000 arrivals in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla and some 54,800 on the dangerous path of the Mediterranean Western, where the death toll has almost quadrupled 202 in 2017 to 777 in 2018.

These figures contrast with the 23,400 arrivals that Italy has experienced, where arrivals of migrants and refugees have declined.

The number of arrivals by sea in Greece in the last twelve months has only been 2,500 people, but has almost tripled at the land border with Turkey.

Elsewhere in Europe, Bosnia and Herzegovina had some 24,000 arrivals in transit from the Western Balkans. Cyprus hosted several ships carrying Syrian refugees from Lebanon. By the end of the year, there had been several attempts to move from France to England by sea.