The Mediterranean Is the Most Dangerous Place for Migrants

2014 is proving a deadly year for migrants across the world with an estimated 4,072 perishing since the beginning of January. The majority of these deaths, 75 percent, occurred in the Mediterranean according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The dangers of crossing the Mediterranean were graphically highlighted once again in mid-September when 500 people died when their boat sank near Malta. 200 more people lost their lives around the same time when their vessel went down off the coast of Libya.

Few places come close to the Mediterranean's catastrophic migrant mortality rate - 3,000 people have died there since the beginning of the year. 251 people died crossing borders in East Africa while 230 perished along the border between the United States and Mexico.