In September, 9,669 migrants and refugees from West Africa arrived in Italy by sea via the central Mediterra- nean route, including 4,843 from Nigeria, 1,245 from Cote d’Ivoire, 1,039 from Gambia and 1,001 from Mali.

In October, an estimated 424 people died or went missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. By 31 October, 3,949 people had died or gone missing in 2016 while crossing the Mediterranean, surpassing the 3,771 people who lost their lives in the whole of 2015.