Zafar Ali Khan
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has said that around 50,000 migrants departed this life in search of a ‘better life’ since 2014.
The Geneva-based UN agency said that at least 50,000 migrants died while on their way to a better living place, across the world since 2014. It is to mention here that migrants undertake risky journeys in search of greener pastures from the globe.
More than 60 percent of those who died on migratory routes remain unidentified
The tragic fact was confirmed in a new IMO report on Missing Migrants Project, which also maintained that a little action was taken by any country of origin, transit or arrival to discourage the practice. As thousands of deaths are recorded across migratory routes each year, very little is being done to prevent these tragedies, according to the Agency. It is yet another alarming fact that the nationality of over 30,000 persons in the ‘Missing Migrants Project’ remained unknown. It means that more than 60 percent of those who died remain unidentified and thousands of families left searching for answers, the IOM said in its report.
The nationality of as many as 9,000 from Africa, over 6,500 from Asia and another 3,000 from the Americas among the missing migrants could be identified. According to the IOM, the top three countries of origin, Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar are marked by violence with many people fleeing their abodes to seek refuge abroad. The report further said that more than half of the 50,000 deaths documented on the migratory routes and within Europe with the Mediterranean routes recording at least 25,104 deaths.
The European routes also made up the largest number and proportion of the missing and presumed dead migrants. These routes recorded at least 16,032 missings at sea and whose remains were never recovered.
Africa remains the second-deadliest region for migrants with more than 9,000 migration-related deaths documented since 2014.
Nearly 7,000 deaths have been recorded in the Americas, 4,694 of whom were heading to the United States. The report said that the US-Mexico land border crossings alone saw more than 4,000 deaths in the period. The Agency has also documented another 6,200 deaths across Asia. Quite worrying is that children make up more than 11 percent of the lives lost on migratory routes in Asia, according to the report.
The UN agency has called for prioritizing search and rescue operations; improving and expanding regular and safe migration pathways; and ensuring that legislation prioritizes the protection and safety of people on the move.
