International Organization for Migration

The flow of migrants and refugees to the Greek islands from Turkey continues despite efforts by NATO to discourage people smugglers by increasing naval deployment in the Aegean Sea, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said.

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.

More than 110,000 migrants and refugees have arrived in Greece and Italy since the start of the year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

This represents "a sharp increase" compared to 2015 - when "the figure of 100,000 refugees and migrants was not reached until the end of June," Reuters said, quoting an IOM statement issued on Thursday.

An estimated 83,201 migrants and refugees have arrived in Europe between 1 January and 11 February, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced on Friday.

Some 77,303 of those people, or 92% arrived on the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea from Turkey, IOM said in a news release.

A trilateral summit will be held in March bringing together Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey to establish a "tripartite mechanism" to cooperate on the migrant crisis, Daily Sabah reports, citing diplomatic sources.

The daily notes this comes against the background of "a new wave of refugees due to Russian military interference".

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), it is possible for the number of migrants and refugees arriving to Europe to exceed the one million mark this year as it did in 2015.

This was stated by IOM spokesperson Joel Millman, TASS news agency quotes him as saying.

There are more children and women than adult males travelling along the so-called Balkan Route at present - for the first time since the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe started last year, UNICEF has said.

Children and women now make up nearly 60% of refugees and migrants crossing the border from Greece into Macedonia, UNICEF reported in a news note on Monday.

Four times more deaths in the Mediterranean in January 2016 and thirteen times more arrivals in Greece and Italy have been recorded compared to the same month of 2015, the latest data of the international Organisation for Migration (IOM) shows.

Fatalities among migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean in January topped 360 due to a particularly deadly final weekend of the month, when over 100 men, women in and children died in the waters off Greece, Turkey and Italy, the International Organization for Migrations said on Tuesday.

A total of 55,528 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe during the first 28 days of the year, according to estimates of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).