UN: 2023 was the deadliest year for migrants in a decade

At least 8,565 people died on migration routes around the world in 2023, making it the deadliest year since records began a decade ago, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported Wednesday. International Organization for Migration (IOM) of the UN.

“The 2023 death toll represents a tragic 20% increase compared to 2022, highlighting the urgent need to take action to prevent further loss of life,” the IOM said in a statement.

Last year’s total also surpasses the record reached in 2016, when 8,084 people died during migration. The IOM said that because safe and regular migration routes remain limited, hundreds of thousands of people attempt to migrate each year through irregular routes in unsafe conditions.

The Mediterranean crossing remains the deadliest route for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances recorded there last year.

Just over half of all migrant deaths in 2023 occurred as a result of drowning, with nine percent caused by vehicle accidents and seven percent caused by violence.

The Missing Migrants Project IOM was established in 2014 as an open access database on deaths and disappearances of migrants.

It has since documented more than 63,000 cases worldwide, although the true number is estimated to be much higher due to difficulties in collecting data, particularly in remote locations.

“As we commemorate 10 years of the Missing Migrants Project, we first remember all these lives lost”said IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels.

Each of them is a terrible human tragedy that impacts families and communities for years to come.

“These horrifying 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, so that in 10 years people will not have to risk their lives in search of a better”.