Figures from the UN’s migration agency, the IOM, reveal that 1,650 refugees have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year with a further 6,453 migrants rescued off Libya and 228 bodies pulled from the waters. Humanitarian charities operating in the Mediterranean have helped save the lives of thousands of refugees, with women and children making up almost half of those making the crossing.
![Far right raises £50,000 to target boats on refugee rescue missions in Med](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/f831fe6755b7423df13fda4f949498b0dd88faf1/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fmedia%2F4e96e19a65a083c55eea187b4ccaee56672146a4%2F0_7_3000_1800%2Fmaster%2F3000.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D630%26quality%3D85%26auto%3Dformat%26fit%3Dcrop%26overlay-align%3Dbottom%252Cleft%26overlay-width%3D100p%26overlay-base64%3DL2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdG8tYWdlLTIwMTcucG5n%26enable%3Dupscale%26s%3D09d664f2696271c47b13bd5542c3a987)