Monday, May 04, 2015

Mapping Mediterranean Migrant Deaths

Yesterday 10 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean. This means that over 1,600 migrants have already died this year trying to reach European shores.

Since 2013 the Migrant Files has been keeping a database of migrants who have died on their way to Europe. The database lists more than 29,000 people who have died trying to get to Europe since 2000.

An interactive map on the Migrant Files website shows that a large proportion of these deaths occur in the Mediterranean, particularly among migrants trying to cross from Libya & Tunisia to Italy. On April 19th alone 700 people died when a fishing boat sank about 60 miles off the Libyan coast.

The Silk team has created another interactive map from the Migrants' Files data which allows you to query the information about migrant deaths by year, location and cause of death. If you click on a map marker on the Fatal Migration Incidents in the Mediterranean map you can read details about the mapped incident, including the number of casualties and the date of the incident.