UN: 880 migrants die crossing the Mediterranean sea

 According to the UN Refugee Agency spokesman William Spindler in Geneva on Tuesday, at least 880 migrants died last week in shipwrecks and boat capsizing while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.

The odds of dying on the route from North Africa to Italy currently stand at one in 23.

Vessels on this route are more crowded than those crossing from Turkey to Greece, the agency said, often carrying 600 or more passengers.

Smugglers in Libya are trying to reap as much profit as possible before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan starts in early June, according to Spindler.
Three shipwrecks on this route led to at least 700 deaths.
The agency also said, based on the accounts of survivors who landed in Italy at the weekend, that 47 people were missing after a raft carrying 125 people from Libya deflated last week.
Eight people were said to have gone overboard on a separate boat, and another four people reportedly died in a fire on another vessel.
Nearly 204,000 people have made the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean so far this year, according to UNHCR.
It said 2510 migrants have died in the Mediterranean this year, 655 more than in the same period last year.

"Smugglers are becoming more ruthless and the boats are not even meant to make the crossing," Spindler said, adding that smugglers often call the coastguard immediately after sending passengers out.

Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration said smugglers are using even bigger boats and that these are dangerously overloaded.
Although many migrants originally seek jobs rather than refugee protection, Millman said many of them end up trafficked for sex work in Europe.

"They would be economic migrants when they set out but once they arrive, they are victims of trafficking in Europe and deserve protection," he said.