IOM: Migrant Deaths on MENA Routes Highest Since 2017

By Staff, Agencies

Nearly 3,800 people died on migration routes within and from the Middle East and North Africa in 2022, the highest number recorded in five years, according to a Tuesday report by the International Organization for Migration [IOM].

The United Nations migration agency’s Missing Migrants project recorded 3,789 deaths last year along sea and land routes in the region, including crossings of the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea.

"This alarming death toll on migration routes within and from the MENA region demands immediate attention and concerted efforts to enhance the safety and protection of migrants," said Othman Belbeisi, IOM Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa [MENA].

The agency said the recorded death toll – which was 11 percent higher than that recorded in 2021 and the highest since 4,255 documented six years ago – was likely much higher in reality due to scarce official data and limited access to migration routes for civil society and international organizations.

According to the IOM’s report, the highest number of deaths on land routes in the region last year was recorded in war-torn Yemen, where targeted violence against migrants had increased. On sea routes from the region to Europe, IOM recorded an increase in deadly incidents on boats traveling to Greece and Italy from Lebanon.

"As many as 84 percent of those who perished along sea routes remain unidentified, leaving desperate families in search of answers," the IOM report said.

Earlier this year, the IOM said that between January and March 2023, over 400 migrants and refugees drowned while attempting the perilous crossing from North Africa to Europe – the most fatalities in the past six years over a three-month period.