More than 6,000 refugees seeking to reach Europe were rescued in the Mediterranean over the last few days—as warming weather is leading more people to attempt the dangerous crossing. An estimated 500 refugees have already drowned in the Mediterranean this year. This is Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration.

Joel Millman: “Arrivals in Italy this year have already passed 20,000, which is twice the 2015 rate through three months of the year and considerably ahead of 2016’s through three months of the year. So, we’ve yet to complete March, and we’re already racing at a pace of arrivals that has exceeded anything we’ve seen before in the Mediterranean. This is typical of spring, getting very busy, but it’s not typical to have the numbers be so high this early, and the corresponding deaths that go with it.”