How many people have lost their lives in migratory journeys since 2014?

Migratory journeys are often the only escape for some people, but unfortunately they end in a dramatic way, costing the lives of the migrants. 

Deaths in numbers 

In a report published on November 23 under the title “50,000 LIVES LOST DURING MIGRATION: Analysis of Missing Migrants Project Data 2014–2022”, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) depicted the number of deaths since 2014 and found that more than 50,000 persons have lost their lives during migratory movements. 

The report showed that more than half of these deaths (29,126) happened on routes to and within Europe, 25,104 of which occurred in the Mediterranean Sea. While the African continent recorded 9,000 deaths during migration, the Americas documented about 7,000 deaths since 2014. Across Asia, 6,200 lives were lost, while deaths on the Western Asia routes reached at least 1,315. 

More than 60 percent of the deaths (30,000 persons) on migratory journeys were listed as unknown and unidentified. The report contained a figure that shows the top 10 known countries of origin of people who have died during migration since 2014, including Afghanistan (1,795),  Myanmar (1,467), Syria (1,118), Ethiopia (867), Mexico (755), Morocco (702), Algeria (653), Venezuela (494), Guatemala (463), and Haiti (451). 

Stories of deaths 

The report included stories of some witnesses who told their experiences with death and migratory journeys:

“As time goes by, there is no news. We just want to know if he is alive or dead. We just want to know something.” – Moroccan migrant in Spain, on searching for his brother who disappeared 20 years ago en route to Europe.  IOM (2021) Families of Missing Migrants: country report for Spain.

“In the desert, when you fall down, they leave you. Sometimes, in the morning, some people would tell us that they couldn't get up anymore; they would tell us to continue the journey without them. And you can't do anything to help them. I knew that if it happened to me too, they would leave me.” – Aboubacar, a Guinean refugee interviewed in France by Infomigrants, 2021.

“I saw a child dragged down by the river; he just slipped out of his parents’ hands. I have seen dead people, drowned people: four of them. I smelled decaying corpses down in the ravines.” – Oscar, on the 14 days spent crossing the Darien Gap (El Espectador, 2021, own translation).

“We had reached the wide street that divides Syria and [Turkey], and the smuggler told the child and another man to cross it. They started to walk across, and then bang, bang. They were both shot. The kid, it went straight through his stomach, and he was bleeding heavily. We dragged him back with us all the way, and he died in Syria.”  – Syrian woman interviewed by Human Rights Watch, 2018.

Calls for action 

IOM stated that the deaths are not just numbers but human lives and families who lost their beloved ones. They called for taking action to prevent further deaths and save lives, adding that countries should offer safe migration by revising their policies and creating new laws.

IOM stressed that “obligations under international law, including the right to life, must be upheld at all times”. It called for international solidarity with rescue operations and prioritizing the protection of the immigrants.