Illegal Migrant Traffickers Open New Route Through Ukraine

Illegal migration remains a pressing issue in Ukraine, where in just four months of this year nearly 300 people were seen reportedly trying to illegally cross the Ukrainian border to enter the EU.

Ukraine's State Border Service admitted that almost 300 people tried to illegally cross the Ukrainian border to enter the EU in the first four months of this year, in a sign that illegal migration remains an issue that Kiev is yet to resolve.

The State Border Service mentioned at least 63 illegal migrants, including those from Afghanistan, Syria and Somalia, who were being transported to EU countries, such as Italy and Greece, on board pleasure boats last month.

The announcement came as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva said late last month that the number of refugees drowning in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to reach asylum in Europe could reach a record of 30,000 by the end of 2015.

According to the IOM, about 1,727 migrants have died at sea since the beginning of this year.

On April 20, a boat carrying an estimated 800 refugees traveling from Libya to Italy capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, with only 28 people reportedly being rescued, according to the UN.

The tragedy came two years after the deadly shipwreck which saw a boat with migrants from Libya sinking off the Italian island of Lampedusa and killing more than 360 people on board on October 3, 2013.

During the second Lampedusa shipwreck, at least 34 people were killed after a boat carrying migrants from Syria and Palestine capsized 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Lampedusa on October 11, 2013.