Newsnomics AJAY ANGELINA reporter |
The death rate of migrants while trying to go to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa last year is all time highest in five years, counted by the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the statement issued on June13,2023.
2,406 is the largest number of migrant victims killed or missing in the Middle East and North Africa through sea route across the Mediterranean.
Migrants from the Middle East and North Africa account for more than half of the 6,877 deaths worldwide listed in IOM's Missing Migrants Project.
According to the IMO "there were about 3,789 deaths, 11% higher than the previous year 2022, even highest since 2017, when 4,255 people died."
By country, 1,028 people were killed in Yemen because of targeted attacks on migrants. More than half of them is believed to be Ethiopian refugees who were trying to cross Yemen to Saudi Arabia.
About 174 people lost their lives by boat to the Mediterranean Sea in Lebanon, the country experiencing worst economic crisis.
Libya recorded 117 deaths and there were 54 fatalities in neighboring Algeria.
The number of migrants killed in the region could be much higher given the lack of official data from the Middle East and North Africa region, said IOM.
Koko Warner, the director of the Global Data Institute said, “Our data shows 92 percent of people dying on this route remain unidentified.”
“The tragic loss of life on dangerous migration routes highlights the importance of data and analysis in driving action.”
Osman Belveysi, the director of IOM's Middle East and North Africa region said, "As there have been a surprising number of deaths along the migrant routes that pass through the Middle East and North Africa, there is an urgent need to put an attention to this issue and efforts to protect migrants."
“IOM urges increased international and regional cooperation as well as resources to address this humanitarian crisis and prevent further loss of lives.”
In the Middle East and North Africa, 1,166 migrants have already died this year reported by the IOM.
