The border between the United States and Mexico was the “most dangerous land migration route in the world” in 2022, with 686 deaths or missing recorded, according to a report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published Tuesday.
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“This figure represents almost half of the 1,457 dead and missing migrants” recorded on the American continent for 2022, “the deadliest year” since the IOM Missing Migrants Project began in 2014, according to this source.
“In 2022, 668 deaths of migrants were recorded (100 women, 454 men, 31 minors and 83 of undetermined sex and age)” at the border between the United States and Mexico, said this annual report, according to a statement.
If the number of deaths falls by 8% compared to 2021, the toll for 2022 “is probably higher than what the available information indicates”, due to a lack of official figures from neighboring Texas or the Mexican search and rescue agency.
The leading causes of death along the sprawling U.S.-Mexico border are drowning (212), vehicle accidents or deaths from unsafe transportation (71), extreme weather, and lack of shelter, food and water (156).
Nearly half (307) of the deaths occurred in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts. For comparison, 212 migrants lost their lives in the Sahara Desert in 2022, although the IOM warns that it only has incomplete figures.
In North America, the countries with the most deaths during their perilous migration are Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba, says the IOM.
“These alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for States to take firm action,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM regional director for North America, Central America and the Caribbean, quoted in the press release.
According to the report, “one of the most worrying current trends is the increase in deaths along migration routes in the Caribbean, with 350 deaths recorded in 2022 compared to 245 in 2021.”