More than 3,000 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to reach Europe last year, double that of a year ago, the United Nations announced on Friday.
"Out of the total recorded in 2021, 1,924 people were reported dead or missing on the central and western Mediterranean routes, while an additional 1,153 people died or went missing on the northern sea route in Northwest Africa to the Canary Islands," UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.
"In 2020, the number of announced deaths reached 1,544 on both roads," she added.