2016 will go on the record as the year that saw the highest number of asylum-seeker deaths globally.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) says over 7,000 migrants and refugees died, or remain missing, on the world's migratory routes in 2016.
It says it's the highest annual number recorded by the United Nations body - significantly exceeding 2014 and 2015 figures.
Europe saw a smaller number of arrivals - 300,000 - which is down from over a million the previous year.
A deal between the European Union and Turkey to block arrivals is largely intact, effectively closing the maritime route to Greece from Turkey.
But it's pushed departures to more dangerous waters between northern Africa and Italy.
Reports of injury, drownings and disappearances have come almost daily.
The U-N says there are still asylum seekers stranded in Greece in dire conditions, and countries to its north, due to border closures along the so-called Balkans route.
The U-N's children's agency, UNICEF, says more than 20,000 unaccompanied children arrived in Italy by sea in 2016, and some 2,000 in Greece.
Europe's police agency Europol warned thousands had gone missing and were at risk of human trafficking.
The U-N and I-O-M are calling for a change in rhetoric around asylum seekers and for a reinforcement of collective responsibility for their protection.
