More than 10,000 people have died crossing the Mediterranean to Europe since 2014, the UN said Tuesday, June 7, as the EU unveiled fresh plans to stem the migrant flow from Africa, AFP reports.

Following a rash of deadly shipwrecks in recent weeks which claimed the lives of hundreds of people, the UN refugee agency said the number of deaths at sea had risen sharply this year, with a record 2,814 people drowning since January.

And over the past few days, the overall number who have died since the start of 2014 has reached 10,085, the UNHCR said on Tuesday.

With Europe in the grip of its worst migrant crisis since World War II, the rising death toll has prompted urgent efforts to tackle the problem, with Brussels seeking ways to clamp down on the Africa route from after a deal with Ankara in March slashed numbers trying to cross from Turkey.

"We cannot tolerate the loss of life on this scale, we need to do everything to stop it," European Commission vice-president Frans Timmermans said as he unveiled the plans, AFP says.

The new proposal involves using EU funds to promote private investment of up to 60 billion euros in key countries of origin for migrants, namely Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and Senegal, as well as Jordan and Lebanon, Timmermans said.

Eight billion euros of EU funds are available to support migration deals with external countries, many of which were first mooted at a crisis summit of European and African nations in Malta last year.