The United Nations reported that more than 72,000 migrant deaths and disappearances had been documented along global migration routes over the past decade, with most victims originating from crisis-affected countries.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), last year witnessed the highest migrant death toll on record, with no fewer than 8,938 individuals losing their lives during their journeys.
Director General of the IOM, Amy Pope, stated, “These numbers are a tragic reminder that people risk their lives when insecurity, lack of opportunity, and other pressures leave them with no safe or viable options at home.”
Her UN agency's report concluded that nearly three-quarters of all migrant deaths and disappearances recorded since 2014 had occurred as people fled from insecurity, conflict, disaster, and other humanitarian crises.
The IOM’s Missing Migrants Report revealed that one in four of those recorded dead or missing had come from countries gripped by humanitarian emergencies, citing the deaths of thousands of Afghans, Rohingya, and Syrians across various global migration routes.
The report stated that over 52,000 individuals had perished while attempting to flee from one of the 40 countries where the United Nations had implemented either a crisis response or a humanitarian response plan.
Pope called for greater international efforts and said, “We must invest to create stability and opportunity within communities, so that migration is a choice, not a necessity.”
She further urged collective responsibility and added, “And when staying is no longer possible, we must work together to enable safe, legal, and orderly pathways that protect lives.”
The IOM confirmed that the Central Mediterranean remained the deadliest migration route in the world, with close to 25,000 lives lost at sea over the past decade.
More than 12,000 of these deaths had occurred after migrants departed from Libya, a country devastated by conflict, while many others had vanished during the perilous crossing of the Sahara Desert, according to the report.
Over 5,000 individuals had died while trying to flee from Afghanistan in the past ten years, with a large number of these deaths recorded since the return of the Taliban in 2021.
In addition, the report noted that more than 3,100 members of Myanmar’s Rohingya minority had lost their lives during this period, many due to shipwrecks or while attempting to cross into Bangladesh.
Coordinator of IOM's Missing Migrants Project and author of the report, Julia Black, issued a stark warning and said, “Too often, migrants fall through the cracks.”
Black also acknowledged the limitations of available information and noted, “And due to data gaps – especially in war zones and disaster areas – the true death toll is likely far higher than what we’ve recorded.”
