Geneva, 14 July 2021 (dpa/MIA) – Deaths have more than doubled along migration routes in the Mediterranean Sea in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, according to United Nations data. At the same time, 58 per cent more people had attempted the sea crossing from Northern Africa to Europe this year – almost 76,000 from January to June – the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Wednesday. Northern African countries had prevented almost 37 per cent more migrants on their northward journey. The strong rise is partly due to the fact that relatively few people attempted the crossing during the coronavirus pandemic last year, the IOM said. In the first half of 2020, 17 per cent fewer people tried to reach Europe than in 2019. The IOM registered an overall 896 deaths – 130 per cent more than last year. In addition, at least 250 migrants have died this year attempting to reach Spain’s Canary Islands to the west of the continent, according to IOM figures. Most migrants – 741 – died on the Central Mediterranean crossing from Northern Africa to Italy. A further 149 died on the route to Spain, while six died in the Eastern Mediterranean, on the sea route from Turkey to Greece. The IOM criticized a lack of rescue operations, noting that most of the time just one rescue vessel belonging to one aid organization was deployed, while nine others were generally blocked in harbours. Northern African coast guards had seized more than 31,500 people in the first six months of 2021 – 76 per cent more than in 2019, the IOM found.