However, this agency warns that the actual number of victims is probably higher, as budget cuts have limited access to humanitarian aid and made it difficult to monitor deaths.
According to IOM data, 7,667 deaths and disappearances of migrants were recorded in 2025, which is less compared to almost 9,200 a year earlier. However, the organization points out that the decline does not necessarily mean an improvement in the situation, but also weaker access to information and reduced capacities for recording tragedies on the ground.
Director General of IOM Amy Pope she said that the continuous loss of life on migrant routes represents a global failure.
– These deaths are not inevitable. When safe and legal routes are unavailable, people are forced to make dangerous journeys and are left to smugglers. We need to expand safe and regular routes to protect people in need, regardless of their status – said Pope.
Sea routes remain the deadliest. At least 2,108 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean last year, while 1,047 people perished on the Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands.
Around 3,000 migrant deaths were recorded in Asia, more than half of which were Afghan nationals. At the same time, 922 people lost their lives crossing the Red Sea between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, which represents a sharp increase compared to the previous year. The majority were Ethiopians, and many perished in three major shipwrecks.
IOM, based in Geneva, is one of the humanitarian organizations affected by the significant reduction in US financial aid, which forced it to reduce or suspend certain activities. The organization warns that this will have serious consequences for migrants around the world.
The negative trend continued in 2026. By February 24 this year, the number of dead and missing migrants in the Mediterranean had already reached 606, which further confirms that migrant routes remain among the most dangerous in the world.
(Vijesti.ba)
