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UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that 100 people are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, bringing the number of casualties in the Mediterranean this year to more than 5,000, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said here Friday.
"UNHCR says this is the worst annual death toll ever seen," Dujarric said at a daily news briefing here.
An average of 14 people have died every day in the Mediterranean Sea this year. Last year, when over a million people crossed the Mediterranean, 3,771 casualties were recorded.
"The Agency stressed the need for States to increase pathways for admission of refugees, such as resettlement and student scholarship schemes so they do not have to resort to dangerous journeys and the use of smugglers," he said.
Attributing reports from the Italian Coastguard, William Spindler, a spokesperson for UNHCR, said that in two separate incidents, rubber dinghies collapsed and those on board fell into the sea.
"Only 63 people survived after the dinghy collapsed and passengers fell into the water," he said. "The second dinghy was carrying about 120 people and 80 were rescued by the Coastguard."
Some 175 people from another dinghy and a wooden boat were rescued. Eight bodies were also recovered during the operations.
Spindler further stressed that these incidents highlight the need to increase pathways for admission of refugees, including resettlement, private sponsorship, family reunification and student scholarship schemes, among others, so that they can avoid dangerous journeys and the use of smugglers.
He added that declining quality of the vessels used by people smugglers, the vagaries of the weather and the tactics used by them to avoid detection might be the root causes of the recent increase in deaths.
"These include sending large numbers of embarkations simultaneously, which makes the work of rescuers more difficult," the spokesperson said, underlining the severity of the challenges.
