At least 8,565 people died on the world’s migration routes in 2023, making it the deadliest year on record, according to data collected by the Missing Migrants Project of the IOM (International Organization for Migration) published on 6 March.
“The death toll for 2023 represents a tragic increase of 20% compared to 2022, underlining the urgent need to act to prevent further loss of life”, says the IOM in a press release. Last year’s total exceeds the number of dead and missing worldwide in the previous record year, 2016 (8,084 deaths).
The crossing of the Mediterranean “remains the deadliest route ever recorded for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances. This is the highest death toll recorded in the Mediterranean since 2017”.
At regional level, an unprecedented number of migrant deaths were recorded in Africa (1,866) and Asia (2,138). In Africa, most of these deaths occurred in the Sahara desert and on the sea route to the Canary Islands. In Asia, hundreds of deaths of Afghan and Rohingya refugees fleeing their countries of origin were recorded last year. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)