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GENEVA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- About 15,843 migrants and refugees have reached Italy by sea this year, accounting for over 80 percent of the 19,567 maritime migrants who have landed in Europe since January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported Friday.
While this year's total of migrant arrivals by sea on Europe is well below the 143,544 entries reported over the same period in 2016, the number of migrant sea entries into Italy is above last year's equivalent of 9,496 arrivals.
According to the figures, IOM has recorded 521 deaths since the start of the year, 50 fatalities more than the number of people who lost their lives over the same period in 2016.
Totally 477 men, women and children have drowned on the central Mediterranean passage linking North Africa with Italy, making it the most fatal route for migrants seeking to reach European shores this year.
A further 44 individuals have lost their lives on eastern and western Mediterranean sea routes, a significant decrease from last year when 374 people died on those particular passages in the reviewed period.
Record 5,079 migrants and refugees died last year while crossing the Mediterranean Sea ,up from 3,771 fatalities in 2015.
