Source: Africa Publicity
The United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) says about 8,000 persons died or disappeared on migration routes in 2025.
According to IOM, sea routes to Europe were the most deadly during the year under review.
IOM reported that most of the victims were lost in “invisible shipwrecks”.
The migration organization made this known in its latest report released on Tuesday, April 21, 2026.
Director of IOM’s humanitarian and response department, Maria Moita, says “These figures bear witness to our collective failure to prevent these tragedies.”
lective failure to prevent these tragedies,” Maria Moita, who directs the UN agency’s humanitarian and response department, told a news conference.
The figure of 7,904 persons that the UN counted as dead or missing in 2025 constituted a fall from the all-time high of 9,197 in 2024, according to IOM in its report.
However, it stated that the drop was partly due to 1,500 suspected cases that went unverified due to aid cuts.
Total deaths since 2014 exceed 82,000, with about 340,000 family members estimated to have been directly affected.
