Last year was the deadliest year on record for migrants, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported on Wednesday. At least 8,565 people died worldwide on migration routes in 2023, an increase of 20 percent compared to the previous year.
Source: BELGA
Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at 4:23 PM
With the ‘Missing Migrants Project’, the UN organization has been keeping figures on deceased and missing migrants since 2014. The 2023 number breaks the previous record set in 2016, when 8,084 migrants died. As safe and legal ways to migrate are limited, hundreds of thousands of people travel via unsafe routes every year, the IOM said.
The Mediterranean Sea remains the deadliest route in the world with at least 3,129 victims and missing persons. This is also the highest number for the Southern European region since 2017. In Africa (1,866) and Asia (2,138), the UN organization registered the highest numbers ever. On the African continent, the routes through the Sahara and to the Canary Islands cause the most victims. Many Afghan and Rohingya refugees were killed in Asia.
More than half of people die from drowning. Nearly one in ten dies in a car accident and 7 percent as a result of violence. Since its inception, the IOM project has recorded more than 63,000 deaths and missing persons. Since it is difficult to collect figures, the actual number of victims is probably even higher.
“Each of these deaths is a terrible human tragedy that will reverberate in families and communities for years to come,” said Ugochi Daniels, Deputy Director General of the IOM. “The horrific figures also remind us that we must step up our efforts to ensure safe migration for all. Then within ten years people will not have to risk their lives in search of a better future.”
