The first quarter of 2023, between January and March, was the deadliest for migrants crossing the Mediterranean since 2017, the UN said on Wednesday. The United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) has estimated that this figure of 441 deaths is underestimated.
"With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized," said IOM Chief Antonio Vitorino. Over the Easter weekend, 3,000 migrants reached Italy, bringing the total number of arrivals since the beginning of the year to 31,192.