Migrants / Deadliest year in 2023 – At least 8,565 dead worldwide

In 2023 it has been recorded as the deadliest year for immigrants, with at least 8,565 people lose their lives them on migratory routes worldwide, according to data collected by his Missing Migrants project International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The number of deaths in 2023 represents a tragic 20% increase compared to 2022, underlining the urgent need for action to prevent further loss of life. “As we mark ten years of the Missing Migrants Project, we first remember all those lives lost. Each of these is a human tragedy that reverberates through families and communities for years to come. These terrifying facts collected from the Missing Migrants Project it is also a reminder that we must recommit ourselves to greater action that can ensure safe immigration for all, so that 10 years from now, people don’t have to risk their lives looking for something bettersaid the IOM Deputy Director General, Ugochi Daniels.

🥀2023 was the deadliest year for migrants since the inception of @MissingMigrantswith more than 8,500 people losing their lives during migration globally.

Read 🔗 pic.twitter.com/DRqJWHBX6A

— IOM Global Data Institute (@IOM_GDI) March 6, 2024

Last year’s total number surpassed the record number of dead and missing in 2016, when 8,084 people died during their migration journey, making it the deadliest year since the Missing Migrants Project began in 2014.

As safe and regular migration routes remain limited, hundreds of thousands of people try to migrate every year through irregular routes in unsafe conditions. More than half the deaths were drowning effect, 9% are due to traffic accidents and 7% to violence.

According to the IOM the Mediterranean crossing is still the deadliest route for migrants recorded, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances. This is highest number of deaths recorded in the Mediterranean since 2017.

In regional levelunprecedented numbers of migrant deaths were recorded across the Africa (1,866) and Asia (2,138). In Africa, most of these deaths occurred in Sahara desert and on the sea route to the Canary Islands. In Asiahundreds of deaths of Afghan and Rohingya refugees who fled their countries of origin were recorded last year.

As the International Organization for Migration reports in 2024, ten years since the founding of the Missing Migrants Project – the only open database on the deaths and disappearances of migrants – the project has recorded more than 63,000 cases worldwide. THE actual number, however, is estimated to be much higher because of the challenges in collecting data, particularly in remote locations such as Darien National Park in Panama and in sea lanes where IOM regularly records reports of invisible wrecks where boats disappear.

The Missing Migrants Project was founded in 2014 after two catastrophic wrecks off the coast of Lampedusa and is recognized as the only indicator that measures the level of “security” of migration in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact for Safe, Smooth and Regular Migration.