Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson had discussions today with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for International Migration and Development, Peter Sutherland; and the Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), William Swing.

They discussed international migration and the emerging appalling trend in the human trafficking of migrants – the abandonment of larger cargo ships by traffickers in the Mediterranean.

This is the latest cynical chapter in the ongoing tragedy of irregular migration at sea that has resulted in 3,000 reported deaths in the Mediterranean alone in 2014, compared to an estimated 700 migrant deaths in the same waters in 2013.

Commending the ongoing rescue efforts, in particular by the Italian Navy and Coast Guard, the Deputy Secretary-General emphasized the responsibility of all Member States -- destination, transit and origin countries -- to ensure the protection and human rights of migrants.  He noted that there was an urgent need to go to the root causes of the phenomenon and take energetic efforts to address them.

The United Nations system will continue its efforts, together with concerned governments, the IOM and other stakeholders, to meet the challenges of global migration.