IOM reported that 606 migrants have lost their lives or disappeared in Mediterranean waters

Published at: 24/02/2026 11:17 AM

Last Monday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 606 migrants have lost their lives or disappeared in Mediterranean waters so far this year.

“This is the deadliest start to the year in the Mediterranean since the IOM began recording such data in 2014,” the United Nations agency said in a statement.

In turn, he details that he was “calling for greater search and rescue efforts in the central Mediterranean to save lives and ensure safe disembarkation, as well as stronger regional cooperation”.

On the beaches of Calabria and Sicily (Italy), the bodies of 15 people believed to have died trying to reach the country from North Africa have been recovered. The region's bishops attacked the decisions of Giorgia Meloni's government, pointing out that the drownings were not isolated tragedies but the result of “inhumane political choices”.

The death toll includes 30 people who are suspected dead or missing after a front off the coast of Greece. The ship had left Tobruk, Libya, on February 19 and capsized 37 kilometers south of Kali Limenes, Crete.

Mazo News Team