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Refugee death toll in Mediterranean tops 1,000 for 6th year: UNHCR

A handout picture taken on July 31, 2019 by German migrant rescue NGO Sea-Eye shows members of the group helping people to get off an overloaded rubber boat spotted in international waters off the Libyan coast to bring them to their vessel. (Via AFP)

More than 1,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year, the sixth year in a row that that "bleak milestone" has been reached, the United Nations refugee agency says.

"UNHCR is urgently calling for an increase in search and rescue capacity, including a return of EU state vessels to search and rescue operations, and an acknowledgement of the crucial role of NGO boats in saving lives at sea," UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said in a statement on Tuesday.

At least 15,000 people have lost their lives in Mediterranean crossings since 2014, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

(Source: Reuters)


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