--- description: 76,000 people have also reached Europe by sea this year title: 409 Migrants Have Died Crossing the Mediterranean in 2016 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecf836abd508dba1/69887cc1a988ca5bf56b681c/migrant-greece-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [europe](/tag/europe/) ## europe Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 409 Migrants Have Died Crossing the Mediterranean in 2016 by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 3:58 PM CUT  Refugees and migrants arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat, Sept. 9, 2015. Refugees and migrants arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat, Sept. 9, 2015.Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 9, 2016 3:58 PM CUT More than 400 people have died trying to [cross the Mediterranean Sea](http://time.com/4065597/james-nachtwey-the-journey-of-hope/ "undefined") this year. Nearly 10 times as many migrants per day tried to make the dangerous crossing in the first six weeks of 2016 compared to the same period the year before, and 409 of them have died, [according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)](http://www.iom.int/news/mediterranean-migrant-arrivals-2016-pass-76000-deaths-top-400 "undefined"). In all, the group recorded 76,000 people reaching Europe’s shores since Jan. 1, at a rate of nearly 2,000 a day. Over 75% of the deaths have been on the Eastern Mediterranean route connecting Turkey to Greece, which traditionally sees far fewer deaths compared to the longer central Mediterranean route between Libya and Italy, [reports the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/02/09/world/europe/ap-eu-europe-migrants.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). The news comes a day after [27 migrants died](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35523235 "undefined") while trying to reach the Greek island of Lesbos. The IOM also expect Greece to receive its 1 millionth migrant since the beginning of 2015 sometime in March. _Read next:_ [_Another Tragic Photo of a Drowned Child Refugee: ‘What Is Happening in the World?’_](http://time.com/4202532/heartbreaking-drowned-refugee-boy-photo/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/"},"headline":"409 Migrants Have Died Crossing the Mediterranean in 2016","datePublished":"2016-02-09T15:58:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:54:19.747Z","description":"In all, 76,000 people have reached Europe by sea this year","url":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/","keywords":["europe"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecf836abd508dba1/69887cc1a988ca5bf56b681c/migrant-greece-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltecf836abd508dba1/69887cc1a988ca5bf56b681c/migrant-greece-crossing.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Refugees and migrants arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat on September 9, 2015.","caption":"Refugees and migrants arrive on the shores of the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on an inflatable boat, Sept. 9, 2015.","creditText":"Angelos Tzortzinis—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/europe/","name":"europe"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/","name":"409 Migrants Have Died Crossing the Mediterranean in 2016"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Behind The Most Heartbreaking Photo of 2015","description":"The story behind the photograph of Alan Kurdi and how it became a symbol of all the Syrian children who lost their lives trying to reach safety.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/PRhp7qay/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-12-29T18:45:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PRhp7qay.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/","duration":"PT4M48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4213676/migrants-crossing-mediterranean-death/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```