2023 was the year with the most migrant deaths, according to the UN – 2024-04-04 12:54:25

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Text: Editorial Cuba Noticias 360

The United Nations (UN) registered more than 8,500 people who died on migratory routes around the world during the year 2023, the deadliest recorded to date.

These figures were known through a statement from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which assures that “the number of deaths in 2023 represents a tragic increase of 20% compared to 2022.”

The numbers highlight “the urgent need to take measures to prevent further loss of life,” the IOM added.

The entity specified that at least 8,565 people died on migratory routes around the world last year, the year with the most deaths since the organization began its Missing Migrants Project.

According to this public database created in 2014 with the numbers of dead and missing migrants, the total for 2023 exceeds the previous record established in 2016, when 8,084 migrants died on these journeys.

In the text, the IOM highlighted that safe and legal migration routes are still scarce, which results in thousands of people continuing to seek a better life by crossing the Mediterranean Sea in dangerous boats, undertaking a journey through the Darién jungle, or crossing the Sahara desert.

Of these, the organization revealed that the Mediterranean crossing is the deadliest route for migrants. Last year, at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances were recorded, the highest death toll since 2017.

Regarding the regions, the statement highlights the alarming figure of 1,866 deaths recorded in Africa, as well as the 2,138 that occurred in Asia.

“In Africa, the majority of these deaths occurred in the Sahara Desert and on the sea route that leads to the Canary Islands,” the organization notes, while in Asia hundreds of deaths of Afghan and Rohingya refugees fleeing their homes were reported. countries of origin.

Regarding the causes of death, the IOM explained that more than half were due to drowning, 9% due to traffic accidents and 7% due to violent acts.

More than 63,000 cases worldwide have been documented since the database was created. However, some organizations estimate that the real number of deaths is much higher given the difficulty of collecting information in places that are difficult to access.