Mediterranean rescuers say saved 175,000 people since 2015

BERLIN: Maritime rescue organisations said on Wednesday they had pulled more than 175,000 people from the Mediterranean over the past 10 years, as waves of migrants sought to use the dangerous sea route to reach Europe.

The group of 21 NGOS active in the region estimated that at least 28,932 people had died while trying to cross the sea since 2015.

The majority had died in the central Mediterranean -- waters between between Libya, Tunisia, Italy and Malta -- Mirka Schaefer of German NGO SOS Humanity told a Berlin press conference.

In that area, the equivalent of five adults and one child lost their lives every day over the past decade, she said.

The number of unrecorded cases was likely to be “significantly higher”, she added.

Of the 21 organisations currently engaged in maritime rescue in the region, 10 of them are based in Germany. Between them the groups operate 15 boats, four sail ships and four planes.

The organisations have frequently clashed with authorities over their rescue operations, which were launched as Europe´s migration crisis broke out in 2015, when hundreds of thousands headed to the continent, mostly from the Middle East.

In Italy the current government has vowed to end crossings and attacked NGOs for creating a “pull factor” that encourages departures, something migration observers say is unproven.