Refugees Deeply | 02.01.2018

The number of refugees and migrants arriving in Europe by boat declined in 2017, as did the number of people dying en route.

Some 119,000 people took boats to Italy from North Africa last year, compared to 181,000 a year earlier, after controversial Italian deals in Libya caused boat numbers to drop rapidly over the summer.

According to the U.N., around 2,800 people drowned on their way to Italy in 2017, down from 4,400 a year earlier.

Meanwhile around 29,000 took boats to Greece compared to 173,000 a year earlier amid a 2016 deal that stopped a surge in refugee crossings of the Aegean.

The much less frequented route to Spain saw a rise in refugee boats in 2017, from 6,000 in 2016 to 21,500 last year.