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United Nations estimates that 2023 was the deadliest year for migrants in the past decade after an estimated 8,500 people were reported to have died or disappeared during migration.

The new data marks a 20 per cent global increase in migrant deaths over the 7,141 deaths recorded in 2022 as the Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia marked as the most dangerous regions for people on the move due to the number of lives lost.

“Some migration routes pose many more challenges than others, for migrants and authorities. Migrants’ journeys can sometimes be characterized by unsafe and even deadly outcomes, often related to a range of social, political, economic, environmental and policy factors that can profoundly impact the way in which people undertake migration,” the 2024 World Migration Report said.

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), nearly 60 per cent of deaths documented during migration are linked to drowning making the Mediterranean Sea the world’s top death trap for migrants.

The agency said that the search and rescue capacities to assist migrants in distress at sea must be strengthened to help save lives. At the same time, governments must implement measures to facilitate regular migration pathways.

 IOM data shows that two in every three deaths recorded were unidentified while more than one in three migrants whose country of origin could be identified come from countries in conflict.

Across the African continent, the migration agency estimates that at least 1,866 deaths were recorded, compared to 1,031 recorded in 2022. This marks the deadliest year for Africa on record since 2014.

Deaths increased across two major African migration routes: the Atlantic Route to Spain’s Canary Islands, and the Sahara Desert crossing to North Africa.

Approximately 959 deaths were documented on the Atlantic route in 2023, compared to 559 in 2022, a scenario linked to a growing number of people who depart from Western African nations such as Senegal and Mauritania

“The length of the overseas journey taken by many on the Atlantic route means that many more disappearances at sea go undocumented due to “invisible shipwrecks” in which entire boats disappear without a trace,” IOM stated.

In Asia, 2,138 deaths were recorded in 2023, compared to 2,070 documented in 2022.

IOM recorded the deaths of 1,181 on migration routes from Afghanistan in 2023, compared to 733 recorded in 2022.

“This is the largest number of deaths of Afghan nationals recorded in the past decade. Most of these deaths (1,068) occurred during movements from Afghanistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran, but this is likely due to the availability of data on Afghan remains repatriated from that country, rather than an indication that Iran is more deadly for Afghans than other neighbouring countries with significant migration flows,” the agency noted.