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TEHRAN, November 06 -The United Nations refugee agency says a total of more than 2,000 refugees have lost their lives since January trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) -Charlie Yaxley, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in the Swiss city of Geneva on Tuesday that "the number of lives lost on the Mediterranean this year has now exceeded 2,000" after 17 people were found dead off the Spanish coast this week.
The official noted that the agency "has called repeatedly for urgent action to address this situation."
"The Mediterranean has for several years been the world's deadliest sea route for refugees and migrants. That it continues to be so should be unacceptable to all."
Yaxley said some 105,000 refugees and asylum-seekers have reached Europe so far this year. The figure represents a drop to pre-2014 levels. But the drownings this year mean that the rate of deaths has escalated sharply.
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