Maritime migrant arrivals to EU top 173,000: IOM

GENEVA - The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported Tuesday that 173,761 refugees and migrants have reached European soil by sea since the start of the year.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that 153,156 of these arrivals have been recorded in Greece, with the remaining reaching Italy (19,930), Spain (648) and Cyprus (27).

So far this year, 723 people have died attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea compared to 1,733 deaths for the first four months of last year.

The Eastern Mediterranean passage has claimed the most lives (375 fatalities), while 343 and five migrants have lost their lives on the Central and Western Mediterranean routes respectively.

According to IOM, the top three nationalities of those detected in Greece in 2016 hail from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Some 53,000 migrants and refugees are currently stranded in Greece where they are being accommodated at the main centers located in northern Greece and Attica.