More than 1,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean this year, the sixth consecutive year that the number has crossed the 1,000 mark, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday.
"UNHCR urgently calls for increased search and rescue capabilities, including the return of EU member states to search and rescue operations and recognition of the crucial role of NGO ships in saving lives at sea," UNHCR spokesman Charlie Yaxley said in a statement.
At the same time, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the increase in deaths was due to growing waves of anti-immigrant sentiment around the world, a tough stance and outright hostility to migrants fleeing violence and poverty.
According to FAO statistics, at least 15,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean since 2014.
In the middle of last month, Italy allowed rescue ship "Ocean Viking" to land 82 migrants in the port of Lampedusa after spending six days at sea waiting for a special agreement between Italy, France, Germany, Portugal and Luxembourg on the distribution of migrants between them.
The Italian approval - a break with the policy of the former right-wing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini - came days after a new government took over from him, with Italy insisting for 14 months to prevent any rescue ship from landing migrants.