Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jump into the water from a crowded wooden boat during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya.AP
Europe's migrant crisis is getting worse. The wave of poverty, political strife, civil wars, and religious persecution in countries in Africa and the Middle East has driven thousands of civilians to seek refuge in Europe.
While the largest number of migrants traveling by boat hail from war-torn Syria, migrants from Eritrea form the second largest group, according to numbers compiled by The Economist. Eritrea's government is reputed to be a repressive regime "where individuals are routinely arbitrarily arrested and detained, tortured, disappeared or extrajudicially executed," according to a UN Human Rights Council report.
Libya is also seeing a flurry of people leaving its shores as the country faces its own political crisis.
On Monday, thousands of migrants — mostly from Eritrea — were rescued at sea, 13 miles away from Libya. These photos show just how dangerous the journey across the Mediterranean is for those who attempt to cross it.
Migrants from Somalia and Eritrea crowded onto a cramped, wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea as they fled Libya on August 21. Around 800 migrants were rescued that day by members of Proactiva Open Arms, a nongovernmental organization.
Migrants were rescued from this burning dinghy on August 28 by an Italian navy vessel as they moved toward the Italian coast.
"This is an era of unprecedented movement across borders," Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organization of Migration in Italy, told The Washington Post. "The arrivals at sea are just a small consequence of what's happening."
Migrants on a wooden boat carrying more than 700 people are helped by members of an NGO during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea.
In the last 14 years, more than 23,000 migrants have died trying to reach Europe, according to one study.
Ahma, 24, and Habsa, 26, left, sit in a rigid inflatable boat after been rescued from a crowded wooden boat as they were fleeing Libya, during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean sea.
The migrant crisis flared in late May of this year, when 700 migrants died at sea, bringing the death toll to 2,000 by June 2016.
At one point ast year, 400 people drowned in the Mediterranean after attempting to flee their homes and reach Europe.
Tamiem Azim, a 7-year-old Syrian boy who was rescued from a sinking boat, cries while sitting aboard a rescue boat on Thursday, August 18. Azim's mother and 2-year-old sister, Tasneen, both died on that day when the boat carrying them sank.
Countless families have young children and infants traveling with them. It seems many people would rather brave the journey across the Mediterranean than remain in their home countries.
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