UNHCR calls on Europe to review operations in the Mediterranean

According to the U.N. Refugee Agency in Geneva, European governments must urgently review their search and rescue efforts, specifically in the Mediterranean region amid fears that more lives will be lost.

"This year, with at least more than 1,700 lives lost in the Mediterranean, the needs have not gone away. So the fear is if there is no search and rescue in the Mediterranean, more lives will be lost," said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch,.

After charity vessel, Aquarius 2, operating in the area had its registration cancelled by authorities, UNHCR said that a re-examination of current arrangements between different nations must also be reviewed to ensure the safety of those crossing the area.

SOS Mediterranée, one of the charities that operate the vessel, blamed the Italian authorities for de-flagging the vessel after pressuring the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) to take action.

Multiple charities have described the PMA's decision as a 'major blow' to the humanitarian mission attempted by the charities.

For the fifth straight year at least 1,500 migrants have perished in the Mediterranean, with the route between Libya and Italy being the deadliest, claiming the lives of one in 19, the U.N. migration agency said in July.

Spain, which has overtaken Italy as the preferred destination, has registered nearly 21,000 migrants so far this year, almost more than all of last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.