EPA Migrants arriving in an overloaded rubber dhingy across the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey

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Around 3,000 refugees have perished making the ocean crossing so far this year – THREE QUARTERS of all the migrants who have died worldwide in 2015. Experts are warning the death toll is almost certain to rise as winter sets in, with cold and windy weather making the sea crossing even more perilous. Nearly 100 migrants have died in the two days since Sunday alone, and the International Organisation for Migration (IoM) estimates there have been 2,987 deaths this year in the water separating Europe and Africa.

That compares with the 1,106 deaths recorded by migrants using other routes to flee war and poverty around the world, including from Mexico to the United States where heavily-armed vigilante border guards patrol the frontier. At least two sightings – of 85 corpses in one area, and ten in another – have been reported in the Mediterranean in recent days, according to IoM’s team in Libya. The IoM's Missing Migrants Project claims the crossing is by far the world's most dangerous. IoM Director General William Lacy Swing in Geneva said: "The Mediterranean remains the deadliest route for migrants on our planet. “This loss of life is unnecessary, completely avoidable and absolutely unacceptable.” United Nations refugee agency UNHCR described the crossing as “the most lethal route in the world” after a record 3,419 migrants lost their lives in 2014 using rickety boats to reach Europe.

EPA Sea full of rubber rings

REUTERS Refugees and migrants arrive on an overcrowded dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos

Close to 400,000 migrants have arrived in Greece by boat this year, while 131,000 reached Italy by sea over the same period. The nine-month total for 2015 compares to 43,500 such arrivals in Greece in all of 2014. UNHCR expects as many as 1.4million migrants to cross into Europe by the end of 2016 – an upwards revision of a previous estimate of 850,000. The agency is appealing for £84million in donations to help tackle the escalating humanitarian crisis. Turkey has warned the European Union three million more refugees could flee fighting in the north Syrian city of Aleppo.

A recent report from Amnesty International found the route through eastern Europe has overtaken the Mediterranean to become the “busiest irregular passage to the EU”. The world’s busiest border crossing for migrants is said to be Mexico – US border, with more than 12million Mexicans having moved to America. Those crossing from Ukraine and Kazakhstan into Russia – and back again – form the next biggest migrant group crossing an international border. And the journey from Afghanistan and Bangladesh into Pakistan and India is the third busiest path for migrants.