GENEVA, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Europe has witnessed sharp drop of migrant arrivals via sea so far this year, but recorded more deaths over the same period of last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday.
The IOM figures show that 19,384 migrants and refugees had made the perilous sea journey to Europe this year, down from over 138,500 during the same period last year.
While the number of arrivals is much lower in 2017, figures show that the first nine weeks of the year have been particularly deadly for those seeking to reach European shores by sea.
Indeed, the IOM has recorded 521 deaths since the start of the year, 50 fatalities more than the number of people who lost their lives over the same period in 2016.
According to statistics, most deaths, which stand at 477, this year have been documented on the central Mediterranean sea route linking North Africa with Italy.
A further 44 individuals have drowned while crossing western and eastern Mediterranean sea passages.
A record 5,079 migrants and refugees died last year while crossing the Mediterranean Sea up from 3,771 fatalities in 2015.
