8,565 people died on migration routes around the world in 2023 (Shutterstock)
The International Organization for Migration has announced that at least 8,565 people will die on migration routes around the world in 2023, making it the deadliest year in a decade.
The United Nations agency said in a statement that the death toll in 2023 represents a tragic 20% increase compared to 2022, which underscores the urgent need to take action to avoid further loss of life.
Last year's total death toll exceeds the previous record set in 2016, when 8,084 migrants were killed.
The International Organization for Migration confirmed that safe and legal migration routes are still few, which forces hundreds of thousands of people every year to undergo this experience in dangerous conditions.
A human tragedy
Crossing the Mediterranean remains the deadliest route for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances recorded last year.
Slightly more than half of the deaths last year were due to drowning, 9% due to car accidents, and 7% due to violence.
The IOM's Missing Migrants Project, established in 2014, is an open database that records migrant deaths and disappearances.
Since its implementation, more than 63,000 cases have been recorded around the world, but the real number is much higher.
The statement quoted the Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration, Oguchi Daniels, as saying, “As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Missing Migrants Project, we first remember all those lives lost,” adding that each one represents a terrible human tragedy that affects families and communities for years.
For his part, the Deputy Director-General of the International Organization for Migration stressed that these horrific numbers collected by the Missing Migrants Project also remind us that we must reaffirm greater efforts to ensure safe migration for all, so that in 10 years people will not have to risk their lives in search of a better future.
Source: Agencies