More than 180 people are missing or feared dead after several boats attempting to reach Europe from North Africa got into difficulty. According to the United Nations' migration agency, the most recent shipwrecks have brought the number of deaths reported in the Mediterranean Sea to nearly 1,000 this year.
Issued on: 08/04/2026 - RFI
At least 990 deaths have been recorded in the Mediterranean since the start of the year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
It said this represents one of the deadliest starts to a year since its records began in 2014.
In the past two weeks alone, at least 180 people have died or gone missing in five separate shipwrecks.
The latest incident on Sunday left more than 80 people missing when a boat capsized in the Central Mediterranean after departing from Tajoura in Libya with around 120 people on board.
Only 32 survivors have been found so far, while two bodies have been recovered.
World's deadliest route
The Central Mediterranean route from Algeria, Egypt, Libya and Tunisia to Italy and Malta has long been the world's deadliest migration corridor, and the latest data suggests it is becoming ever more dangerous.
Around 765 people have died in the Central Mediterranean this year so far, according to the IOM – more than 460 more than during the same period in 2025.
At the same time, European countries and border enforcement officials are reporting fewer crossing attempts. However, their figures are based on the number of people who arrive and do not include those who die en route.
Experts blame a combination of severe storms, the closure of land routes into Europe, the lack of legal migration options and a crackdown on established crossing routes from Libya and Tunisia.
Spate of shipwrecks
The number of small boats attempting the dangerous crossing typically rises in spring and summer as the weather improves.
In a spate of recent shipwrecks, 19 people were found dead on 1 April aboard a boat that left Zuara in Libya and ran out of fuel, ending up drifting off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Another 58 people were rescued.
On the same day, at least 19 migrants died near Bodrum in Turkey, after a rubber boat capsized on the way to Greece.
On 28 March, at least 22 people died off Crete after departing from eastern Libya, while a 30 March shipwreck near Sfax, Tunisia, left 19 dead and around 20 missing.
The IOM warned that current search and rescue efforts were falling short and called for more legal routes for migrants trying to reach Europe.
The agency's director-general, Amy Pope, said: "Saving lives must come first. But we also need stronger, unified efforts to stop traffickers and smugglers from exploiting vulnerable people, and to expand safe and regular pathways – so no one is ever forced into these deadly journeys."
Tighter EU migration controls fail to curb departures from Africa, report says
Despite Brussels touting fewer migrant arrivals, tighter asylum rules and African deals have only temporarily diverted irregular routes, with new passages to Europe possible in 2026.
Tighter EU borders and migration deals with African countries have failed to reduce the number of departures from Africa, but merely temporarily diverted irregular routes, according to a report by the International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), seen by Euronews.
The ICMPD, an organisation that works for the EU and European governments to develop migration policies, analysed the major mobility trends in Sub-Saharan Africa, revealing that “recent patterns show that intensified controls do not necessarily reduce overall mobility but instead redirect movement towards alternative, often longer and riskier routes”, the report says.
In recent years, the EU has expanded its migration partnerships with African countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, and Mauritania. These agreements typically involve local authorities strengthening border controls to curb irregular departures toward Europe, while the EU provides financial support and invests in a wide range of development and cooperation projects in return.
At the same time, the EU revised its internal migration management framework through the Asylum and Migration Pact, a package of laws approved during the last mandate that harmonises border procedures and establishes common rules for handling irregular arrivals across member states.
The reforms reduced access to asylum and overall arrivals to Europe. However, the situation could evolve in different ways, including the emergence of new routes — potentially toward Europe.
"Tightening border controls across key migration routes is expected to further reshape routes in 2026, without fundamentally reducing overall mobility levels”, the document says.
New flows to Europe?
On several occasions, the EU has celebrated a reduction in the number of third-country nationals, mainly from Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia, arriving in Europe via African transit routes.
However, reshaping of mobility could also lead to new irregular flows towards Europe, particularly noting the impact that instability in the Middle East may have on mobility in Africa.
"The impact of these escalations cannot be assessed at the time of writing; however, it cannot be ruled out that migrants from Africa going to the Gulf countries may wish to seek alternative destinations in 2026, including in Europe", the document says.
The irregular route from the Horn of Africa via Somalia and Djibouti to Gulf countries is still one of the most used. Data from the UN agency for migration (IOM) shows that there has been a sharp increase of departures from Sub-Saharan Africa to Gulf countries by 34% between 2024 and 2025.
Root causes and routes diversification
Increasing border controls reshape mobility but do not address migration structural drivers, such as protracted conflicts or insecurity, significant demographic growth, limited labour absorption, climate shocks, as well as drastic recent cuts in humanitarian assistance by the US and European governments, the document says.
But number of arrivals to Europe are temporarily lower. According to the latest data from the EU border agency Frontex, irregular border crossings at the EU’s external border “fell by over one-quarter (26 %) in 2025”.
The sharper decrease occurred alongside the Western African route, that "could be explained by recent partnerships between the EU and key African countries (Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania)", the document says.
But the route from Mauritania to the Canary Islands have been diverted. Departures occurs now from Gambia or Guinea, the document says, making the transit via sea longer and riskier.
Frontex also said that the Eastern Mediterranean migration route towards Europe registered a less pronounced decrease overall, as the corridor connecting Eastern Libya to the island of Crete remained active and even tripled in 2025.
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