In the first nine months of 2014, at least 2,500 people died in the Mediterranean. Of these,
2,200 died between the beginning of June and 15 September 2014.2 But the real number
will never be known, as many bodies are lost at sea. Other deaths were narrowly prevented.
Three shipwrecks in October 2013, together claimed the lives of over 500 people, many of
them children. They moved public opinion and politicians.
In the immediate aftermath of the October 2013 shipwrecks, Italy, sole among EU member
states, took concrete steps to avoid further deaths at sea. It launched Operation Mare
Nostrum (OMN), deploying a significant part of its Navy to rescue refugees and migrants at
sea. The European Commission reinforced the 2013 budget of Frontex (the European Agency
for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States
of the European Union) by allocating an additional €8.2 million, to intensify operations in the
central Mediterranean, including to contribute to search and rescue capacity.3
(The cost of OMN is about €9 million per month).
Between 18 October 2013 and September 2014, the Italian Navy rescued well over
100,000 people. However, even its best efforts were insufficient to prevent the dramatic loss
of life occurred over the 2014 summer months
In this report Amnesty International argues that until safe and regular routes into Europe are
in place for refugees and migrants, the priority for the EU and its member states must be to
protect their lives and ensure access to asylum for those who need it, as they attempt the sea
crossing. A strengthened collective EU search and rescue (SAR) system and a review of the Dublin system are needed.
