At least 606 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean since the start of 2026, making it the deadliest start to a year in over a decade, the UN’s migration agency said on Monday. The figure includes 30 people feared dead after a boat capsized in severe weather off the coast of Greece on Saturday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that the boat had left Tobruk, Libya, on 19 February and overturned about 20 nautical miles south of Kali Limenes, Crete. Twenty people were rescued, and the bodies of three men and one woman were recovered.
In Italy, the bodies of 15 people believed to have drowned during January’s violent storms have washed ashore in Calabria and Sicily over the past week. A student discovered the body of a man wearing an orange life jacket near Tropea, and a woman’s body was found in the same area. Additional bodies appeared on the island of Pantelleria.
Bishops in Calabria and Sicily condemned migration policies on Sunday, describing the drownings as the result of “inhumane political choices”. Their statement came a week after Italy’s far-right government approved a bill authorising naval blockades to prevent boats from arriving during periods of “exceptional pressure”.
The legislation is the latest step in a crackdown on irregular immigration by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government, which has also targeted charity rescue ships, increased penalties for human smugglers, and accelerated repatriation schemes. The European Parliament recently approved changes to EU asylum rules in response to pressure from member states, including Italy. Meloni said her government would use “every tool at its disposal” to secure the nation’s borders.
According to Italy’s interior ministry, 66,296 migrants arrived by boat on Italian coastlines in 2025, slightly fewer than the previous year and about half the number recorded in 2023, when Italy strengthened agreements with Libya and Tunisia to stem arrivals.
