The International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesman Joel Millman
(VOVworld) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) spokesman Joel Millman says more than 6,000 people crossed the Mediterranean in the last week, with nearly all crossing to Italy - and only 300 crossing from Turkey to Greece, a route that has taken over 1 million people since the start of 2015.
Millman said Friday it was too early to assess whether a European Union-Turkey deal on the return of refugees from Greece to Turkey was causing a shift in the patterns of movement of Syrians fleeing to Europe.
He noted that more than 40,000 people made the journey from Syria through Egypt, Libya and then to Italy in 2014. He said more than 24,000 people had crossed into Italy so far this year, and the "high season" of migration in the spring and summer was just beginning now.