It's believed hundreds of thousands of people are in Libya or Egypt waiting for a crossing to the Italian island of Lampedusa; 976 migrants who set sail from Libya have drowned so far this year.
Hundreds were rescued last weekend while attempting to cross the Mediterranean towards Italy https://t.co/klzu5Arbp9 pic.twitter.com/HK6oWADNLF
— IFRC (@Federation) May 2, 2016
"Unfortunately, as weather conditions are improving, the Libyan shores have come to witness more and more boat tragedies," Mohammed Al Mosrati of the Libyan Red Crescent said.
"Last month alone, the Red Crescent provided aid and medical care to more than 250 rescued migrants."
A year ago, charity Red Cross warned that a lack of action by the European Union was contributing to the refugee crisis. Once again, the charity's volunteers are recovering bodies from the sea.
Since 29 April, over 100 people have died in four different ship wrecks on the Mediterranean Sea according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The Red Cross says 27,000 people have arrived in Europe from Libya so far this year.
"Sadly, tragedies like this have happened before and many people will continue to face the difficult choice of whether to try and reach Europe by sea.
"They underline the urgent need for safe and legal routes to Europe for people seeking protection," Karl Pike of the British Red Cross said.
On April 16, a wooden boat capsized on the high seas, 500 Somalis, Sudanese and Ethiopians on board drowned, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
184,546 migrants incl refugees arrived by sea to Europe 1357 dead/missing https://t.co/Dc8umzcLLs #MigrationEurope pic.twitter.com/j5Gcb7WZ1o
— IOM (@IOM_news) 3 May 2016
The shipwreck became the deadliest accident since the peak of the crisis in April 2015 when 800 men, women and children perished at sea after their boat sank on its way from Libya to Italy.
As weather and sea conditions improve, so do the number of arrivals and so do the number of deaths. Libya is becoming once again the lethal route of choice for desperate migrants hoping to reach Europe — despite NGOs, charities and academics relentlessly calling for legal and safe routes for refugees to prevent deaths at sea.
Italian reception centers are overflowing with new arrivals and while the route to Greece remains restricted and the Western Balkan route remains closed, the burden of Europe's refugee crisis currently resting on Greece is expected to switch to Italy.
