The IOM's 'Missing Migrants' project has recorded over 63,000 migrant deaths over a ten-year period, reaching from 2014 to 2023. More than two-thirds of those whose death has been documented by the project have not had their identity established yet.

The latest IOM report states that more than one in three successfully identified individuals come from conflict-laden countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar and Ethiopia.

The report also highlights that drowning is the most common cause of death, with over 36,000 sea deaths recorded along various migration routes over the last decade.

The vast majority of drowning deaths occurred in the Mediterranean Sea, with over 28,000 fatalities recorded there alone.

Migrant deaths reaching record highs

The IOM stressed that the tens of thousands of deaths recorded by the 'Missing Migrants' project over the past decade "likely represent only a fraction of the actual number of lives lost worldwide" during migration, and that "despite political commitments and significant media attention on the issue in many regions of the world, deaths are on the rise."

"In fact, 2023 recorded the highest annual death toll with nearly 8,600 lives lost," the UN body added.

That figure represents a global increase of 20% in migrant deaths compared to the 7,141 victims recorded in 2022.

The Mediterranean, Africa, and Asia were the areas where last year most of the increase in deaths was recorded, with the latter two seeing an unprecedented number of lives lost.

For the IOM, the data from the report published on the tenth anniversary of the founding of the 'Missing Migrants' project demonstrates "the urgent need to strengthen search and rescue capabilities, facilitate safe and regular migration pathways, and take action to prevent further loss of human lives."