EU partly to blame for Mediterranean migrant deaths an hour ago A staff member checks the body temperature of migrants in the Italian Pelagie Island of Lampedusa. AFP The European Union is partly to blame for deaths of migrants taking boats across the Mediterranean due to unanswered distress calls, obstruction of humanitarian rescue efforts, and so-called "pushbacks" to Libya, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Thousands of refugees and migrants including many from Africa undertake long, dangerous journeys via Libya to Europe each year, often embarking on small, inflatable boats in search of a better life. READ MORE Death rates are rising and so far this year at least 632 people have died on that route, the UN rights office said in a 37-page report entitled "Lethal Disregard", calling this a "human tragedy on a massive scale".