International Organisation for Migration

More than 110,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy so far this year, and 413 have lost their lives trying, the International Organisation for Migration said Feb. 23.

As of the morning of Feb. 23, 102,547 people had arrived in Greece, while another 7,507 had arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year, IOM said.

NATO is to begin naval patrols and surveillance and intelligence flights in the region, as well as intelligence gathering missions in the Aegean, to stop people smugglers.

"This is about helping Greece, Turkey and the European Union with stemming the flow of migrants and refugees and coping with a very demanding situation," NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said.

A total of 23,664 migrants arrived in Europe by sea in the first 14 days of the year, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has announced.

The total number translates into an average daily of about 1,700.

The first 14 days of 2016 also saw the year's first 59 fatalities in the Mediterranean between Libya and Italy, the IOM said.

The EU is to strengthen cooperation on migration and economic development with African partners by allocating EUR 1.8 B to the Union's Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

This is expected to happen at the international summit on migration, which is taking place in Valletta on Wednesday and Thursday.

The first relocation of refugees from Greece to another European Union country will take place on Wednesday morning.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has reported an unprecedentedly high number of migrant arrivals in Greece by sea at the end of last week.

More than 27,000 migrants have crossed into Greece from Friday through Sunday, "exceeding arrivals during peak summer sailing days," IOM said in a statement on Tuesday.

Turkey, which hosts the world's largest refugee population, has so far spent $7.6 billion caring for 2.2 million Syrians who have fled strife in the Arab republic, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmu? said Sept. 18.

At least 28 people drowned in another migrant tragedy off Greece on Sunday, as Athens angrily defended its handling of the mounting refugee crisis in Europe. 

Three people, including a child, drowned when a boat carrying some 100 migrants capsized off Greece early on Sept. 13, the Athens News Agency reported.

At least 30 migrants are feared to have drowned off Libya after their dinghy began to sink, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said Sept. 4.