Migrations, the dead and the nameless disappeared: a ten-year search: IOM data from 2014 presented in Berlin, never so many victims

ROME (DIRE Agency) – Disappeared and nameless, even when their remains are recovered: these are the migrant victims of travel in the Mediterranean and along other routes around the world, at least 8,542 last year alone, more than 64 thousand since 2014.”These are data that photograph trends and bring out a reference model”, explains Koko Warner, director of the Global Data Institutestudy center ofInternational Organization of Migration (Oim) who edited the estimates contained in a new report.

Over 2/3 of the people who have died since 2014 remain nameless. The expert presents them on the tenth anniversary of the initiative “Missing Migrants Project”, during a meeting in Berlin. It is written in black and white: over two thirds of the people who have died since 2014 remain nameless, numbers that hide faces, forever distanced from their families and loved ones in mourning. And again. People die in the desert and more often at sea: six out of ten victims drowned, in the Mediterranean or in the oceans that separate poor and vulnerable countries from those where there is more hope or well-being. However, it is not just the gap in per capita income that causes death. More than one in three victims left a country held hostage by war and did not have the opportunity to move legally, safely and safely.

One of the issues to be resolved: regular routes. Warner explains it again in Berlin. “Saving lives and promoting regular routes are two key objectives for IOM” underlines the expert: “For this reason ‘Missing Migrants Project’ is at the heart of our mission”. The idea of ​​keeping track, and even more, of bearing witness, came to fruition in 2014. Initially the information was collected from press articles and aggregated into Excel files. Over time however, also thanks to the birth of Global Data Institutethe ability to document has improved to the point of creating and then increasingly expanding a reference reservoir, nourished by testimonies from civil society organisations, government sources or UN officials, open and available to all, starting from journalists.

The methodology used. Andrea Garcia Borja, data analyst of the project, clarifies the methodology. “We focus on the journey and only on that, to best identify risks and vulnerabilities” is the premise. “We exclude disappearances or deaths in reception or detention centers, while we include deaths that occurred at the external borders of states or during transfers to destinations international”. The discoveries are painful. And they are at the same time a cry for help. “In 2023 we know that at least 8,542 people have died or disappeared during migration journeys, the highest number ever recorded in the last decade” underlines Garcia, scrolling through the pages of the report. “These numbers represent an overall increase of 20 percent compared to the 7,141 deaths in 2022.”

And people don’t just die in the Mediterranean. And be careful, it’s not just the Mediterranean, the “central” route that starts from Tunisia and Libya or the more western one that heads to the Canary Islands. In 2023, the IOM certifies, in Africa and Asia the number of victims was unprecedented: 1,866 in the first case, 2,138 in the second. To which add the 157 deaths in Europe and the 1,275 on the American routes. (Say) 15:28 26-03-24 NNNN

* Vincenzo Giardina – DIRE Agency