The Iom has released its latest report on migration routes. Since 2014, 82,000 people have died, and while numbers are declining in Europe, the toll is worsening elsewhere.
In 2025, at least 7,900 people died or went missing along migration routes. The tragic figures were released by the International Organization for Migration (Iom), a United Nations agency, bringing the total number of deaths since 2014 to over 80,000.
Compared to 2024, there was a slight improvement in the numbers, but this may also be due to significant changes in migration routes and the fact that some of them are less monitored than historically more traveled ones. Among the most critical situations worldwide are those involving Afghan migrants, Rohingya from Myanmar, and people fleeing East Africa.
An unending tragedy
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) published its annual report on migration routes for 2025. The results are based on the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) and the Missing Migrants Project (MMP). The DTM tracks movements, route changes and conditions along migration corridors through direct field monitoring and government data sources, while the MMP documents migrant deaths and disappearances using official records, media reports and information from IOM missions worldwide.
Nearly 8,000 people are reported dead or missing worldwide, bringing the total since 2014 to over 82,000. The organization also estimates that at least 340,000 family members have been directly affected by this tragedy, having lost a loved one. Deaths in 2025 decreased compared to 2024, when they reached 9,200, marking the deadliest year since 2014. According to the IOM, this decline is partly due to a reduction in the number of people attempting dangerous irregular migration routes, such as those in the Americas, but also to limited funding and reduced capacity among humanitarian operators who document migrant deaths along major routes.
Looking more closely at the profiles of those who died along migration routes, the report records 3,371 men, 683 women and 368 children. As for causes, deaths due to violence remain high, and since 2022 at least 8 per cent of all recorded deaths globally have occurred this way, with higher incidence in Asia and Africa.
European routes
Sea routes to Europe accounted for 3,200 deaths in 2025, representing 43 per cent of the global total, although down from 3,800 in 2024. The deadliest route remains the central Mediterranean, with 1,330 deaths or disappearances. This is followed by the West Africa/Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands, with over 1,200 deaths. Another 500 people died along the western Mediterranean route, while deaths along the eastern route to Greece doubled compared to 2024, reaching 372.
Overall, UN agency data show that one person died for every 47 attempting to cross the Mediterranean or Atlantic toward Europe.
Internal European routes also recorded a tragic toll in 2025. Although fewer migrants traveling from Ukraine to Romania reduced overall numbers, there were still 99 deaths across the continent. Of these, 36 occurred along the English Channel route from France to the United Kingdom. Several others were recorded in the Balkans, where migrants have long faced harsh conditions and violence from local authorities.
Afghan refugees, Rohingya and Ethiopian migrants
Some migration routes saw an increase in deaths in 2025. Among them is the route of Afghan migrants fleeing Taliban rule, with at least 1,323 deaths, the highest number since 2014. Many died while crossing Iran, others at the Turkish border, and others still during crossings of the eastern Mediterranean or along the Western Balkans route.
Another extremely critical situation concerns the Rohingya, a Sunni Muslim ethnic minority concentrated in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and described by the UN as the most persecuted minority in the world. According to the IOM report, 2025 was the deadliest year ever recorded, with nearly 900 deaths during sea crossings in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. In particular, four major shipwrecks alone are believed to have caused nearly 800 deaths, while many additional “ghost shipwrecks” likely went undocumented due to limited rescue operations and investigations in the region.
A third migration route where deaths increased in 2025 is the one from East Africa toward the Arabian Peninsula. It was the deadliest year ever recorded, with over 900 deaths, around 700 of whom were Ethiopian nationals. The worst stretch was the route toward Yemen, with dozens also killed at the land border with Saudi Arabia due to violence.
Iom’s comment
“Migration routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks remain very real,” said IOM Director General Amy Pope. “Behind these numbers are people undertaking dangerous journeys and families waiting for news that may never come. Data are essential to understanding these routes and designing interventions that reduce risks, save lives and promote safer migration pathways.”
An international migration forum will be held in May, and the UN agency has called for a collective effort to protect migrants, prevent deaths and disappearances, and provide greater support to families affected by migration tragedies.
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