More than 3,000 migrants died this year trying to cross by boat into Europe

More than 3,000 migrants died this year trying to cross by boat into Europe

(CNN) -- They brave the risk of drowning, drifting endlessly or dying of thirst to make it illegally to a better life in Europe. Migrants... 23:09

(CNN) -- They brave the risk of drowning, drifting
endlessly or dying of thirst to make it illegally to a
better life in Europe.
Migrants traveling, often on overfilled boats, usually
make it. But last year, 3,419 didn't.
They perished in the Mediterranean Sea, the United
Nations Refugee Agency said Wednesday.
Some went under, like the 500 killed, when their
angry traffickers sank their boat on purpose in
September , according to survivors. The men,
women and children had refused to transfer to very
small boat they felt sure would not hold them and
wasn't seaworthy.
They asked to be taken back to their
departure port in Egypt. Instead the
traffickers rammed their boat and
laughed while they watched it sink, the
survivors said.
The seafaring dangers are little
deterrent for those leaving abject
misery, such as the intense bloodshed
of wars, which is driving hordes into
asylum.
More than 207,000 people have
crossed the Mediterranean for Europe
this year illegally -- almost three times
the previous high of about 70,000 in
2011, the agency said. That's 60% of
the 348,000 boat migrants worldwide
this year.
Figures on such crossings is inexact, as many
boats elude detection.
"Europe, facing conflicts to its south (Libya), east
(Ukraine) and south-east (Syria/Iraq) is seeing the
largest number of sea arrivals," the UNHCR said.
Nearly 50% of the sea arrivals are from the civil-
war ravaged Syria and from Eritrea, where a
dictator has ruled for more than 20 years, and
where, Human Rights Watch says, young people
are forcibly conscripted into the military, often for
open-ended servitude akin to slavery.
The Italian government has led search and rescue
operations in the Mediterranean -- called Mare
Nostrum or "Our Sea" -- rescuing tens of
thousands of migrants. Despite pleas from various
aid agencies, it ended those operations in October.
But boat migrants come from many conflict
regions.
The Horn of Africa region saw an estimated 82,680
people crossing mainly from Ethiopia and Somalia
making their way to Yemen and other countries in
the Middle East.
And in Asia, nearly 54,000 people have taken to
the sea, the majority from Bangladesh and
Myanmar crossing through the Bay of Bengal.
Last month, at least 24 people died after a boat
carrying 43 illegal migrants and asylum seekers
sank near Istanbul, Turkey. Nine of the passengers
were carrying Afghan passports.