More than 10,000 Mediterranean migrant arrivals in Europe in 2018: IOM

GENEVA - The UN migration agency, International Organization for Migration (IOM), said Tuesday that 10,114 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea through the first eight weeks of 2018, down on the figure for last year.

Despite a significant drop in arrivals this year, IOM said that its missing migrants project has reported 414 deaths in the Mediterranean so far this year, fewer than the 483 reported at this time in 2017.

IOM spokesperson Joel Millman said at a UN briefing that just over 50 percent of those arriving came to Italy and the remainder divided almost evenly between Greece and Spain. This compares with 16,806 arrivals across the region through the same period last year.

The arrivals for the past two years are, however, tiny compared to this time in February 2016 when "there were already 116,005 arrivals -- roughly 100,000 more than at this point this year and last," said Millman.

IOM Athens reported Monday that over six days from Feb 15-20, the Hellenic Coast Guard reported there were at least three incidents requiring search and rescue operations off the island of Samos.

The Coast Guard rescued 152 migrants and transferred them to that island.

Most of the Mediterranean arrivals in Europe this year have landed in Italy with the Ministry of the Interior saying 5,247 migrants have arrived by sea to Italy this year. That is 61 percent fewer than last year during the same period.

Millman said that worldwide, IOM's missing migrants project has recorded 651 migrant fatalities in 2018, compared with 936 at this time last year.