More than 3,000 migrants and refugees have died while trying to cross the Mediterranean this year, while nearly 250,000 have made the harrowing journey to Europe, the International Organization for Migration said Tuesday.

"The latest discovery of 39 bodies washed up on Libyan shores this week bring the number of casualties to over 3,034 among the migrants and refugees who attempted to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe in 2016," the IOM said.

An IOM statement said the 2016 death toll was "significantly higher compared to last year as of end of July 2015 when 1,917 had lost their lives at sea".