Arrivals and departures
An estimated number of 1,375 people lost their lives at sea while attempting to reach Europe this year, which is 25% lower than the number people who died during the same period of time in 2015 (1,828). As of 24 May, no such events took place in the Aegean Sea, where during the first months of the year (as of April), 376 people died. By contrast, nearly 95 refugees and migrants drowned in the Mediterranean Sea during May last year, and an estimated 330 died in May 2014. So far this year, 190,960 people reached Europe via the Mediterranean Sea (Spain: 903, Italy: 33,907, Greece: 156,150). As of 23 May, 190,057 people arrived to Italy and Greece.
On 24 May, five separate disembarkation operations of people rescued at sea took place in Augusta (508 people), Catania (395 people), Pozzallo (417 people), Reggio Calabria (290 people), and Crotone (395 people) totalling 2,005 people. People mainly originate from Sub-Saharan countries, Somalia, Eritrea, Egypt, Palestine, and Iraq. Reportedly, another 850 people were intercepted by Libyan authorities. Several hundred rescued refugees and migrants are due to arrive in Italian ports today following rescue operations.
Condition of People
In Greece, at Eidomeni, where thousands of refugees and migrants have been camping for the past two months in hopes that the border crossing would re-open and they would be able to continue their journey, decongestion efforts have been ongoing. People are transferred to several sites throughout mainland Greece. UNHCR has provided people with humanitarian assistance in formal sites and informal sites such as Eidomeni. On 23 May, the Greek Government announced the evacuation of approximately 9,000 people, informing refugees and migrants accordingly. The evacuation of the site began on 24 May and is ongoing.
Key Developments
At the UN World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras expressed his satisfaction with the implementation of the EU-Turkey Agreement so far, saying that refugee flows have significantly diminished. During a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Tsipras noted that people smuggling seems to have been deterred to a great extent, with NATO’s participation being a crucial element.
Planning, preparation and funding
The European Commission has awarded 25 million euros in emergency funding to the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) to enhance its capacity to further support Greek authorities. These additional resources will be used to support the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March and the EU emergency relocation scheme. The funding is provided under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) of EC DG Home and will allow for the deployment of additional member state experts and interpreters, as well as the setting up of mobile EASO offices in hotspots to assist with asylum application processing.
