More than 4,000 people die on migratory routes in 2018

By Tugcenur Yilmaz and Fatih Hafiz Mehmet

ANKARA (AA) - A total of 4,476 people lost their lives on migratory routes across the world in 2018, a UN agency said on Tuesday.

In a report published on International Migrants Day, International Organization for Migration (IOM) said hundreds of thousands of people continue to migrate from their homelands to flee either conflicts, bad economic conditions or political pressures.

According to IOM data, 2,217 deaths, around half of the total fatalities occurred in the Mediterranean this year.

In 2018, at least 135,000 people migrated to Europe due to several reasons -- including war, seeking a better life, natural disasters and political pressure, the report said.

The migrants who arrived in Europe were mostly from Syria, Tunisia, Eritrea, Pakistan, Iraq, Congo, Afghanistan, Morocco and Mali.

Also, hundreds of thousands of people tried to migrate to the U.S. and Canada from South and Central American countries due to hunger, violence and political pressure.

According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, around 400,000 people were held in 2018 for entering the country via illegal ways.