More than 600 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe in 2026, marking the deadliest start to a year in over a decade, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM). The figure includes at least 30 people feared dead after a boat capsized off the coast of Greece on Saturday.
The boat, which had left Tobruk, Libya, on 19 February, overturned about 20 nautical miles south of Kali Limenes, Crete. Authorities rescued 20 people, including four minors, and recovered the bodies of three men and one woman. The IOM called for increased search and rescue efforts in the central Mediterranean.
In Italy, the bodies of 15 people believed to have drowned during violent storms in January have washed up on beaches in Calabria and Sicily over the past week. Students found the body of a man wearing an orange life jacket near Tropea, a popular Calabrian seaside town. Bodies have also been discovered on the island of Pantelleria.
Bishops in Calabria and Sicily condemned migration policies on Sunday, stating that the drownings were not isolated tragedies but the result of 'inhumane political choices'. Their condemnation came a week after Italy's far-right government approved a bill authorising naval blockades to stop boats during periods of 'exceptional pressure'.
Italy's interior ministry reported that 66,296 people arrived by boat on Italian coastlines in 2025, slightly fewer than the previous year and about half the 2023 figure, after Italy reinforced deals with Libya and Tunisia.
