VIDEO: 'I was 100 percent sure I would die' says refugee boat survivor

More than 4,000 refugees have died on the way to Europe this year, and the world is on course to register its highest number of migrant deaths as criticism mounts over failing efforts to cope with the global crisis.

Yousef, a 40-year-old Sudanese refugee from Darfur, left behind his wife and children in Egypt to reach Europe by boat last summer.

Speaking to MEE, Yousef told of how he was "one hundred percent sure he would die.

"Alll of us were cramped together like animals. There was no space. Two men from Sudan had gone crazy. They said they wanted to jump in the water, so they were tied down. 

"A Syrian man died on the boat. He had a problem like heart disease or diabetes. They put the body in a different compartment below deck. We didn't tell anyone else that someone had died.

"Now, eight months later, I still dream about the boat."