The year 2024 saw at least 8,938 people die on migration routes worldwide.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the 2024 toll continues a five-year trend of more deaths each year making it the deadliest year on record. Last year’s toll tops the previous record in 2023, when 8,747 migrant deaths were recorded.
“The tragedy of the growing number of migrant deaths worldwide is both unacceptable and preventable. Behind every number is a human being, someone for whom the loss is devastating,” said IOM Deputy Director General for Operations Ugochi Daniels.
“The increase in deaths across so many regions in the world shows why we need an international, holistic response that can prevent further tragic loss of life.”
Region wide death toll recorded in 2024 was Asia claimed 2,778 people recorded dead while Africa saw 2,242 dead.
Europe recorded 233 while the 2,452 deaths were documented in the Mediterranean Sea in 2024.
At least 1,233 deaths occurred in the Americas in 2024 with 341 lives lost in the Caribbean and 174 deaths of migrants crossing the Darién.
Meanwhile, IOM joins hands with Peru to promote social cohesion and healthy living among migrant and host community children and teens.
This collaboration, supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), builds upon the achievements of El Balón No Tiene Fronteras (Soccer Has No Borders), a similar program implemented by IOM in Peru since 2019, which reached over 1,600 children and youth across Peru, fostering social inclusion and strengthening community ties.
UN and partners seek $934.5m for life-saving aid to 1.5 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh
In another report, IOM with the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, called on the international community to enhance its support for Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh amid rising insecurity in Myanmar and ongoing forced displacement.
