2023 was deadliest year for migrants in a decade, says UN

A total of 8,565 migrants died on land and sea routes worldwide last year, the UN migration agency said Wednesday, a record high since it began tallying deaths a decade ago.

The International Organization for Migration said the biggest increase in deaths last year was on the treacherous Mediterranean Sea crossing, to 3,129 from 2,411 in 2022.

IOM said a record number of 1,866 deaths also occurred in Africa last year.

Most of the deaths occurred in the Sahara Desert and the sea route to Spain's Canary Islands. 

“These horrifying figures collected by the Missing Migrants Project are also a reminder that we must recommit to greater action that can ensure safe migration for all, so that ten years from now, people aren’t having to risk their lives in search of a better one,” IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels said.