International Organization for Migration

At least 63,285 people have perished or disappeared on migration routes around the world between 2014 and 2023, with most deaths caused by drowning, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday.

With 2024 set to see more elections worldwide than any previous year, the United Nations' migration chief says increasing anti-migrant rhetoric from politicians seeking to score points is harming societies.

The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) disclosed today that the year 2023 witnessed the highest number of migrant fatalities in the past decade, as reported by AFP.

At least 8,565 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2023, making it the deadliest year since records began a decade ago, the U.N.'s International Organization for Migration said Wednesday.

"The 2023 death toll represents a tragic increase of 20 percent compared to 2022, highlighting the urgent need for action to prevent further loss of life," the IOM said in a statement.

Nearly 100 migrants have died or disappeared in the central and eastern Mediterranean, including Greek seas, since the beginning of 2024, more than double the toll recorded last year during the same period, the UN migration agency said on Monday.

In a devastating maritime tragedy, 61 migrants, including women and children, lost their lives in a shipwreck off Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Libya confirmed.

A boat carrying dozens of Europe-bound migrants capsized off the coast of Libya, leaving more than 60 people - including women and children - dead, the U.N. migration agency said.

Saturday's shipwreck was the latest tragedy in this part of the Mediterranean Sea, a key dangerous route for migrants seeking a better life in Europe, where, according to officials, thousands have died.

The number of refugees and migrants who died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in the first half of 2023 was at the highest level since 2017, according to data presented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) issued a joint statement on Friday calling for "urgent and decisive action to prevent further deaths at sea following the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean, the worst in several years," the organizations pointed out.

Greek rescuers on Thursday scoured the Ionian Sea for survivors a day after a fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank, killing at least 78 people, as police arrested nine suspected people smugglers.

Fears were growing that the final toll could eventually run into the hundreds.