Ginebra.- At least 8,938 people died on migratory routes around the world in 2024, the highest figure since the International Organization for Migration began its records in 2014. United Nations Migration (OIM).
The figure published this Friday represents an increase of 2.1% compared to 2023, when the deaths of at least 8,747 migrants were recorded, and is the fourth consecutive year in which victims have increased since 2020, the year with the fewest deaths partly due to the reduction in flows caused by the covid-19 pandemic.
For the first time since 2019, the Mediterranean route has not been the deadliest for migrants: at least 2,452 people died there last year, while the highest number of deaths occurred on the Asian routes (2,778), where flows such as that of Afghans to Iran were among the most dangerous in the world.
African migration routes recorded at least 2,242 deaths, those in the Americas 1,233, and at least 233 migrants died in Europe, according to IOM figures, which uses the constantly updated Missing Migrants Project statistics for this monitoring.
"The high numbers highlight the need for adequate rescue and rescue systems, as well as the need to establish safe and regular migration routes as alternatives to many dangerous journeys," the UN agency stressed.
According to the IOM, at least 10 percent of all deaths were violent, something the organization attributed to dangerous journeys in Asia.
The agency emphasizes that the statistics likely conceal a much higher true number of victims, due to the lack of official figures in many cases, a problem that also prevents the identities and origins of many of those killed on these routes from being determined.
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Adding the 11 years of follow-up carried out by the Missing Migrants Project, The Mediterranean remains the most dangerous route in the world, with 31,722 victims, followed closely by Africa (16,895), America (11,038), Asia (9,835), the Middle East (3,277) and Europe (1,355).
In the Mediterranean, however, a 22% drop in the number of deaths and disappearances was recorded last year, down from 3,155 in 2023, the first drop since 2020.
Of the 2,452 deaths recorded in Mediterranean waters Last year, 1,719 occurred on the central route (mainly the one linking Libya with Italy), another 558 on the western route, which includes Spain, and 175 on the eastern route.
The highest number of deaths in the Mediterranean was recorded in 2016 (5,136) and the lowest in 2020 (1,450).
