国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Journey has become more desperate for migrants across Mediterranean_时事

国际英语资讯:Spotlight: Journey has become more desperate for migrants across Mediterranean

Meanwhile, for the first time in recent years, Spain became the primary entry point to Europe through the enclaves in Ceuta and Melilla. In total, 58,600 people successfully crossed the perilous western Mediterranean, while the death toll nearly quadrupled from 202 in 2017 to 777.

Ghedini-Williams underscored a very high frequency of unaccompanied or separated children on these journeys.

"Of the arrivals to Spain, about 5,500 were children traveling on their own. It shows the level of hopelessness that families are feeling that they are continuing to send their children alone on these very perilous journeys," she said.

RUNNING OUT OF OPTIONS

Ghedini-Williams cited the limited capacity of rescue and search operations, blockages at home and on the sea, and decreasing hospitality in European countries as a few of the many obstacles that the migrants face.

She singled out Libya when speaking of domestic restrictive measures, saying the UNHCR is "dealing with not only lack of capacity of rescue and search missions at sea, but actual blockages of these missions ... by NGOs and other bodies (of Libya)."

In addition, she said because of prolonged or prohibited disembarkation, a lot of asylum seekers and potential refugees or migrants are being returned to Libya "where they're being detained in facilities that have absolutely deplorable conditions."

On the other end of the journeys, Ghedini-Williams said rather than more options and chances for migrants to seek a safe and dignified form of movement in 2017, "we are seeing more blockages, more discouraging policies in place."