Ugochi Daniels, deputy director general of the IOM, warns: “These horrific figures collected by the Missing Migrants Project are also a reminder that we must recommit to greater action that can ensure safe migration for all.”
“As safe and regular migration routes remain limited, hundreds of thousands of people attempt to migrate on irregular routes in unsafe conditions every year. Just over half of deaths were caused by drowning, nine percent by car accidents and seven percent by violence,” the survey highlights.
With at least 3,129 deaths and missing people, the Mediterranean crossing remains the deadliest route for migrants on record. This is the highest number of deaths in the Mediterranean since 2017.
Regionally, unprecedented numbers of migrant deaths were recorded in Africa (1,866) and Asia (2,138). In Africa, most of these deaths occurred in the Sahara and on the sea route to the Canary Islands. Hundreds of deaths of Afghan and Rohingya refugees fleeing their home countries were recorded in Asia last year.
The Missing Migrants Project is the only open access database on migrant deaths and disappearances. To date, he has documented more than 63,000 cases worldwide. “However, the actual number is estimated to be much higher because data collection is difficult, particularly in remote locations such as Darien National Park in Panama and on shipping routes where the IOM regularly records reports of unseen shipwrecks where boats disappear without a ship . “Track,” the entity points out.
The record was set in 2014 after two devastating shipwrecks off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy.