Some 300 children drowned trying to reach Europe so far this year

Refugee children hold signs on board the Ocean Viking ship sailing in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea on November 3, 2022, after being rescued by European maritime-humanitarian organisation SOS Mediterranee [File: Vincenzo Circosta/AFP]

At least 289 children are known to have died at sea in the first six months of this year while attempting to reach Europe, according to the United Nations children agency (UNICEF).

The figure is nearly double the number recorded in the first half of 2022, the UNICEF said on Friday, adding that the children made the perilous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea driven by conflict and climate change.