This segment originally aired April 26, 2017, on VICE News Tonight on HBO.
The main migrant departure season hasn’t even begun yet and the Mediterranean Sea has already hit a grim milestone.
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In just the first four months of 2017, nearly 1,100 people have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean in hopes of getting to Europe. Over 90 percent of those deaths occurred in the stretch of water between Libya and Italy, where migrants are sometimes smuggled into overcrowded boats and left adrift in the ocean.
VICE News reports from the Libyan coast where some migrants detained say they will attempt the journey again as soon as they are returned to their country. Meanwhile, the Libyan government says it does not have the food or resources to provide for the expected 10,00 migrants they will be repatriating this year.
