GENEVA, August 12. /TASS/. The number of migrants killed and missing while trying to cross through the central and eastern Mediterranean has more than doubled and tripled, respectively, between January and April 2026 compared to the same period last year, despite a decrease in the number of arrivals in Europe, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

According to it, 821 people died or went missing on the route through the central part of the Mediterranean Sea, which is 111% more than in the same period of 2025. It went on to say that 430 people, or more than half, died and went missing in January, when Cyclone Harry hit the region. The number of arrivals on this route decreased by 46% over the same period to 8,577 people.

According to the organization, 244 people died on the route through the eastern Mediterranean, which is 259% more than a year earlier, indicating that a significant part of these deaths were related to trying to cross the sea in the area of Crete.

With regard to the situation around Spain, the organization said that on the West African Atlantic route, the number of arrivals in the country decreased by 78%, to 2,276 people. At the same time, the number of arrivals to the kingdom on the western Mediterranean route increased by 66%, to 5,647 people mainly due to a threefold increase in the number of land crossings across the border to Ceuta and Melilla.