Last year, almost 9,000 people died on escape routes – as many than ever since the International Organization for Migration raised the numbers.
As many deaths of migrants have never been registered worldwide as last year. According to the UN Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 8,938 people worldwide were killed in escape routes worldwide.
The organization had already reported a record with 8,748 victims in the previous year. There were only more than 8,000 fatalities in 2016.
Number of dead in the Mediterranean sinks
According to the count of the Missing Migrant Project associated with IOM, at least 2,778 migrants died in Asia alone, 624 more than in the previous year. In second place the Mediterranean followed with 2,452 deaths; There were 703 fewer than in the previous year. The third highest number of deaths on migration routes was recorded in Africa, with 2,242 victims and an increase of 367.
IOM vice director Ugochi Daniels called the growing number of victims “unacceptable and avoidable”. The increase in numerous world regions shows that an international and comprehensive answer is necessary.
Violence and dangers
The surveys of IOM have been around since 2014. Since then, more than 74,000 migrants have been considered dead or missing. The organization assumes that the true number is even higher. Not all victims would be found and registered. The number of fatalities registered worldwide has been continuously increasing for five years.
Many deaths are also due to violence, reports the IOM. Human smugglers and gangs would often harsh migrants to blackmail money. Others are taken up by authorities and captured in camps as in Libya under devastating conditions. More die in the attempt to reach the coasts of other countries with often hardly any seaworthy boats.
Refugees or migrants?
According to the IOM, migrants are all people who leave their place of residence – regardless of the reasons, how long or whether they do it voluntarily or involuntarily. Some apply for asylum because they have fled with war or persecution. According to the definition, refugees are also migrants, but not all migrants refugees.
