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Upsurge in numbers of missing migrants, says UN

The UN says there's been an upsurge in missing people who risk their lives when they take to boats to migrate.

The number of people killed crossing from North Africa to Italy and Malta has reached a six-year high. The United Nation's International Organisation for Migration has announced that more than 400 people had lost their lives making the crossing this year alone, with the true total believed to be higher.

Search and rescue is becoming harder, with NGOs reporting that their crews are being threatened by coastguards or having their boats seized when they return to land. ѿý Newsday heard more on this from Julia Black, co-ordinator of the International Organisation for Migration's Missing Migrant Project.

“We have documented more than 440 deaths so far this year just in the central Mediterranean crossing and this is the most… since 2017. The challenge is the lack of search and rescue. Fundamentally there is a mismatch to manage emigration… and the reality on the ground that people are risking their lives every day.”

“Without more legal routes I don’t see this changing. This is not just limited to Europe. This is a global mismanagement… a global trend. ”

(Pic: A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan immigrants lands at a beach on the Greek island of Kos in 2015; Credit: Reuters)

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