Swallowed by the Sea: A Look at Recent Migrant Ship Deaths

About 2,900 asylum seekers have drowned at sea this year.

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Growing Death Tolls - On Sept. 15, Angelina Jolie, who serves as Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, met with officers in the Maltese military to discuss rescue at sea operations for the hundreds of refugees shipwrecked the previous week. According to the Associated Press, more than 20,000 people have died in the past two decades attempting to reach the Italian coast, including 2,300 in 2011 and about 700 in 2013.(Photo: AP Photo/Pete Muller/UNHCR)Haitian Migrants Perish - Eighteen Haitian migrants drowned after their sailboat capsized off the coast of Turks and Caicos, a British territory, on Dec. 25, 2013. Authorities rescued 32 people. The boat was being escorted by a marine unit of Turks and Caicos police when it overturned, according to the Associated Press. (Photo: BBC News)

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Dangerous Waters - This year alone, more than 130,000 migrants — mostly African — have fled conflicts, persecutions and feared economic chaos in their homelands, arriving on European shores in search of a better life. Yet, these migrants run a high risk of perishing at sea when they attempt to cross the Mediterranean, dubbed the “most deadly stretch of water for refugees and migrants” by the United Nations. Keep reading to learn about recent and past tragedies where desperate travelers were swallowed by the sea. — Patrice Peck and Natelege Whaley(Photo: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

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