The report, Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration, names the Mediterranean Sea as the world's most dangerous crossing for migrants. IOM estimates that more than 3,000 migrants have died while attempting to make the crossing in 2014, far more than the 700 who died last year.
While part of the increase may be reflect better record keeping, much of it can be explained by the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa which have displaced huge numbers of people, and which show no sign of abating.
In the article, entitled 'Mediterranean Sea the world’s deadliest migrant crossing, report says', Professor Betts argues that the EU's restrictive asylum policy is part of the problem:
'Europe has traditionally had a spontaneous arrival asylum policy...In Europe, if you’re going to be a refugee, you have to make it by yourself. And yet Europe and the EU have made policies increasingly restrictive, developing a Fortress Europe response.'
