186.000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Europe so far this year, most in Italy, UN says

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says some 186,000 migrants and refugees arrived in southern Europe so far this year, the vast majority in Italy. Between January and Sept. 24, over 2,500 people seeking to cross the Mediterranean were found dead or are still missing, a significant increase from the 1,680 people who died or were missing during the same period in 2022, Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the New York office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, told the U.N. Security Council. The UNHCR estimates that over 102,000 refugees and migrants from Tunisia and over 45,000 from Libya tried to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe between January and August.