Over 3,000 illegal migrants died in Mediterranean in 2014: Report

Up to 3,072 illegal migrants are believed to have died in the Mediterranean so far in 2014, compared with an estimated 700 in 2013, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Monday in a report.

The report, titled "Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration", compiled under IOM's Missing Migrants Project, estimated that at least 4,077 migrants died in 2014, Xinhua reported.

Over the last year, the increase in deaths has largely been driven by a surge in the number of fatalities in the Mediterranean region.

In 2014, nearly 70 percent of deaths recorded by the IOM refer to migrants who are missing, usually at sea. In the majority of fatalities occurring in 2014, information on region of origin suggested that the majority of migrants who lost their lives in 2014 were from Africa and the Middle East.

Over the last 20 years, Europe appears to have the highest figures for reported deaths. Since the year 2000, over 22,000 migrants have lost their lives trying to reach Europe.