7,900 people died, disappeared on migration routes in 2025: UN

GENEVA (AFP): Around 7,900 people died or disappeared on migration routes in 2025, taking the total dead and missing since 2014 beyond 80,000, the United Nations’ migration agency said Tuesday.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said people were being forced into dangerous, irregular journeys when safe pathways were out of reach, and urged countries to find the political will to save more lives on migration routes.

The deaths or disappearance of around “7,900 people were documented on global migration routes worldwide in 2025”, the IOM said.

The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project “has documented more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances during migration since 2014,” the agency said.

“While these figures represent only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people, they nonetheless underscore the need for urgent action to end migrant deaths and address the complex needs of families left behind,” said the IOM.

The 7,904 deaths and disappearances documented in 2025 was lower than the 9,200 figure given for 2024 – the highest annual total on record.

Nonetheless, the IOM said the deaths and disappearances “mark a continuation and escalation of a global failure to end these preventable deaths”.

“2025 was marked by an unprecedented level of aid cuts and restriction of information on dangerous irregular routes, rendering more and more missing migrants invisible,” it said.

US border changes

In the Americas, northbound movements along the Central American route fell sharply compared to 2024.

The primary reason is “the great change in migration policies by the US administration and the closure of the southern border”, said Maria Moita, the IOM’s humanitarian response and recovery director.

The number of deaths on the route plunged, but the agency cited a dearth of data from the United States and Mexico, and the IOM’s lack of capacity in the region due to funding cuts.

In Europe, overall arrivals declined, but the profile of movements changed, with Bangladeshi nationals becoming the largest group arriving while Syrian arrivals fell following political and policy shifts, the IOM said.

Some 3,400 deaths and disappearances were recorded on sea routes to Europe, of which 1,330 were on the central Mediterranean Sea route, with more than 1,200 on the Western Africa/Atlantic route to Spain’s Canary Islands.

The IOM said nearly 900 deaths and disappearances were recorded during sea crossings in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in 2025 – a route used almost exclusively by Rohingya refugees – “making it the deadliest year on record for this route”.

Risks ‘very real’

“Routes are shifting in response to conflict, climate pressures and policy changes, but the risks are still very real,” said IOM chief Amy Pope.

“Behind these numbers are people taking dangerous journeys and families left waiting for news that may never come,” she said in a statement.

“Data is critical to understanding these routes and designing interventions that can reduce risks, save lives and promote safer migration pathways.”

The migration agency highlighted that at least around 340,000 family members are estimated to have been directly affected by the missing migrant crisis since 2014.

They are left with dire psychological, social, legal and economic impacts of having a relative whose disappearance remains unresolved, it said.

“Sustained political will is needed to save lives on migration routes worldwide and make visible the families most impacted by these preventable losses,” the agency said.