Fatal journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration (IOM)

The report, compiled under IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, indicates Europe is the world’s most dangerous destination for “irregular” migration, costing the lives of over 3,000 migrants this year.

"Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost During Migration”, compiled under IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, contains data on migrant deaths collected and shared all over the world. It uses statistical data compiled by governments and other agencies, as well as NGOs and media sources, but collecting data on migrant deaths has never been a priority for most governments around the world. According to IOM, data tends to be scattered, with a range of organizations involved in tracking fatalities. Some experts now believe that for every dead body discovered, there are at least two others that are never recovered.

The research behind “Fatal Journeys,” which runs to over 200 pages, began with the October 2013 tragedy when over 400 migrants died in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. The report indicates Europe is the world’s most dangerous destination for “irregular” migration, costing the lives of over 3,000 migrants this year.

With a count surpassing 40,000 victims since 2000, IOM calls on all the world’s governments to address what it describes as “an epidemic of crime and victimization.” IOM also wants to warn future migrants against taking these high risk journeys.

Publication Date:
Tue 30 Sep 2014
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