More refugees die on land than at sea
According to the High Council for Migration and Refugees, the number of people who die in sub-Saharan Africa is twice as high as those who drown at sea. Many refugees die before reaching the coast of North Africa.
The High Council for Migration and Asylum Affairs believes that more refugees are dying on land than those who drown in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe.
An official from the refugee rights foundation told the German website "Welt am Sonntag": "The very sad situation is that most refugees who head towards the Mediterranean Sea from distant lands lose their lives during the journey through the desert before reaching the coast of North Africa."
Vincent Kochtel, a special envoy for the Refugee Council, criticizes that a large part of the disaster of displacement and asylum has remained hidden from public view.
"The path that refugees take to reach Europe is very dangerous," says Gerd Müller, the Federal Minister for Cooperation and Development. "We must create such a prospect for them in their own countries that they do not embark on this dangerous journey out of desperation. We must first and foremost provide them with education and work."
Shocking figures
According to the Refugee Support Foundation, more than a thousand people have died crossing the Mediterranean this year through October.
In 2018, an estimated 2,277 people drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean.
According to estimates by international organizations, more than 19,000 people died in the Mediterranean Sea between 2014 and the end of October 2019, 4,463 of whom were from North Africa.
But based on reliable reports, it can be said that many young refugees who leave their homeland in the hope of reaching Europe lose their lives in the African Sahara before reaching the shores of the Mediterranean.
According to the report, the causes of death of refugees before reaching the shores of North Africa are: road accidents, death from hunger and thirst, violent conflicts, and disease.
Source: DW
