At least 8,565 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2023, making it the deadliest year since records began a decade ago, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
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"The 2023 death toll represents a tragic increase of 20% compared to 2022, highlighting the urgent need for action to prevent further loss of life," the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement.
The IOM said last year's total surpassed the previous record reached in 2016, when 8,084 people died during migration. So far this year, 512 deaths have already been recorded.
The IOM said that because safe and regular migration pathways remain limited, hundreds of thousands of people attempt to migrate every year via irregular routes in unsafe conditions.
The Mediterranean Sea, where many migrants try to reach southern Europe from northern Africa, continues to be the deadliest route for migrants, with at least 3,129 deaths and disappearances registered last year.
It is the highest number of deaths on the Mediterranean migration routes since 2017.
In one incident alone an overcrowded trawler, the Adriana, sank off the coast of Greece in on June 14 last year, with the loss of more than 600 lives.
Unprecedented numbers of migrant deaths were recorded last year across Africa (1,866) and Asia (2,138).
In Africa, most of the deaths occurred in the Sahara Desert and the sea route to Spain's Canary Islands.
Slightly more than half of the total migrant deaths in 2023 came as a result of drowning, with 9% caused by vehicle accidents, and 7% in violence.
Source: AFP
