UPDATE - 1 in 3 migrant deaths occur en route to escape conflict: UN migration agency

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By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Over the past decade, more than a third of the migrant deaths for which the country of origin could be identified were from countries in conflict or with large refugee populations, a new report released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

A Decade of Documenting Migrant Deaths report, highlighting the dangers faced by those attempting to flee conflict zones without safe passage, said the information on the identities of missing migrants is "highly incomplete," as it found that there is a "high number of unidentified deaths."

"More than two-thirds of migrants whose deaths were documented remain unidentified, leaving families and communities grappling with the ambiguous loss of their loved ones," it said, stressing the need for better-coordinated data collection and identification processes. 

"Despite the many lives lost whose identities remain unknown, we know that almost 5,500 females have perished on migration routes during the last ten years and the number of identified children is nearly 3,500," Ugochi Daniels, the IOM deputy director general for operations, said in the report.

Daniels added: "The toll on vulnerable populations and their families urges us to turn the attention on the data into concrete action." 

Meanwhile, nearly 60% of deaths documented during migration are linked to drowning, the report found, urging for strengthened search and rescue capacities to assist migrants in distress at sea.

During the last 10 years, more than 63,000 deaths and disappearances were documented, and further deaths were recorded in 2023 than in any prior year.

In 2023, the report said 8,542 people are known to have died or disappeared during migration, the highest figure recorded in any year in the past decade, marking a 20% global increase in migrant deaths over the 7,141 deaths recorded in 2022.

"These figures demonstrate the urgent need for strengthened search and rescue capacities, facilitation of safe, regular migration pathways, and evidence-based action to prevent further loss of life," it noted.