The Mediterranean repeats as the deadliest area with more than 2,452 deaths
2024 closed as the deadliest year on record for migrants, with at least 8,938 deaths on the various routes monitored by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which has warned of a tragedy that is as “unacceptable” as it is “preventable.”
The report published this Friday confirms the fifth consecutive annual increase in this type of death, after the previous record of 8,747 deaths was broken in 2023. These are also conservative counts, as the IOM assumes the actual figures are even higher.
By region, Asia leads this tally with 2,778 victims, although the Mediterranean Sea remains the deadliest area with a new record of 2,452 fatalities. In Africa, the IOM has recorded another 2,242 deaths, while in the Americas it was able to verify another 1,233, 341 of them in the Caribbean and 174 in the Darien Gap, which connects Colombia and Panama.
“Behind every number is a human being, someone whose loss is devastating,” stressed the agency’s Deputy Director General for Operations, Ugochi Daniels, who called for an internationally coordinated response to stem this upward trend in migratory routes.
The IOM has a specific program to collect data on dead or missing migrants, but as the person in charge of this project, Julia Black, pointed out, there are “thousands” of people who are impossible to even identify, which makes this tragedy “even more tragic.”
“Apart from the despair and uncertainty faced by families who have lost a loved one, the lack of more comprehensive data on the risks migrants face makes it difficult to respond,” Black added. The IOM insists that the only solution to these deaths is to establish legal and safe migration routes.
