Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/619227
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2015 News 105 asylum seekers reached Malta in 2015 International Organisation for Migration (IOM) report says Europe saw one million arrivals so far this year MATTHEW AGIUS A total of 105 irregular migrants and refugees arrived on Maltese shores by sea this year, according to a report just published by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). The figure is part of the much larger total of irregular migrants and refugees who sought shelter in Europe –over one million ir- regular migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe in 2015, mostly from Syria, Africa and South Asia. The organisation counted 999,745 irregular arrivals from across the Mediterranean, includ- ing migrants travelling by both land and sea to Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy and Cyprus, besides Malta. The report calculates the to- tal arrivals to Europe to be ap- proximately 1,005,504, with just 3% coming by land, making it the highest migration flow since World War II. 3,692 would-be migrants or refugees perished in their attempt to reach safety, around 400 more than in 2014. At least 30 addi- tional deaths of African migrants seeking to enter Europe through Spain's Canary Islands have been reported. A growing number of victims are young children. On December 19 a wooden boat carrying 62 mi- grants capsized off Chios Island in Greece, in which a two-year old Iraqi boy drowned. According to the Greek Coast Guard, six of the 15 bodies of migrants and refu- gees to wash up on Greek islands this month have been infants or children. "We know migration is inevita- ble, necessary and desirable," said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing. "But it's not enough to count the number of those ar- riving – or the nearly 4,000 this year reported missing or drowned. We must also act. Migration must be legal, safe and secure for all – both for the migrants themselves and the countries that will be- come their new homes." In December alone, IOM esti- mates that 67,700 or more mi- grants have crossed into Greece through the country's maritime borders. During the same period, some 52,500 people crossed from Greece into the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYRoM.) This means that roughly 77% of all migrant arrivals in December have passed through Greece and into FYRoM and other points far- ther north. Since the beginning of the year, IOM estimates that over 810,000 migrants and refugees have crossed into Greece by sea. Only about 5,000 migrants have crossed into Greece by land. According to IOM's monitoring system, between 9-20 Decem- ber 45.6% of migrants crossing Greece's FYRoM border were male adults; 21.9% were female adults; 35% were accompanied children and 1.5% unaccompa- nied minors. The vast majority are Syrians, followed by Iraqi and Afghans, as no other nationalities are now allowed to cross. The IOM offers assisted volun- tary return to their country of or- igin for migrants who have been turned back from the border. An increasing number of migrants, notably Moroccans, are express- ing an interest in this scheme, given the lack of other options to return home safely. Asylum seekers who made it to Malta in January this year