243 people died at the European borders. The "worst" month of a year, 2007, which has "already seen 959 migrants die, mostly between Malta and Lampedusa". This is reported by Fortress Europe, the press review that since 1988 has recorded the numbers of border victims: 9,726 people dead, including 3,599 reported dead. In the Canal of Sicily alone, in the last month 161 people died; 29 in Aegean Sea and 13 along the routes to the Canary Islands. Two men have been killed in Turkey in the van on which they travelled, hidden, to Greece, and the same happened to a young man run over by the lorry underneath which he had hidden, in the port of Algeciras, in Spain. According to the Report, in 2005 an average number of 101 people travelled on each ship bound for Sicily. In 2006 they were 53, and in 2007 they are 41. And the tales of those who land "confirm it reads that the figure of the motorboat pilot has disappeared. The helm is held by any passenger, sometimes they take turns. The organisers save money, and it is the migrants that are arrested, so once they are out of prison they can no longer legalise their status, as it happened for instance to the three Eritrean men who were arrested on August 2nd because they were driving the boat on which they were travelling". (continued)
