Originally published September 13, 2023 10:27 am PDT
In an alarming revelation, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that the U.S.-Mexico border became the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide in 2022 under President Joe Biden’s administration.
With 686 deaths and disappearances documented, this figure makes up almost half of the total 1,457 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded across the Americas last year.
Highlighting the severity of the situation, Michele Klein Solomon, IOM Regional Director for Central and North America and the Caribbean stated, “These alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action by States.”
She further emphasized the urgent necessity for enhanced data collection, arguing, “Ultimately, what is needed is for countries to act on the data to ensure safe, regular migration routes are accessible.”
According to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) annual overview, 2022 has seen the highest migrant death toll since the project’s inception in 2014.
The report further suggests that these figures are possibly an underrepresentation of the actual numbers due to “lack of data from official sources.”
Though there was a 6% reduction in deaths and disappearances on the U.S.-Mexico border from the previous year, the actual figures for 2022 are suspected to be higher.
The absence of data, notably from Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency, makes the actual death toll hard to ascertain.
The IOM report found that nearly half (307) of these deaths on the U.S.-Mexico border were a direct result of perilous crossings through the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts.
Comparatively, the hazardous Sahara Desert recorded the deaths of at least 212 people, though the remote location of such regions implies that the data might be incomplete.
Meanwhile, the Caribbean has shown a troubling surge in migrant deaths.
“One of the most concerning trends was the increase in deaths on migration routes in the Caribbean, with 350 documented in 2022 compared to 245 in 2021 and fewer than 170 recorded in all prior years,” the press release highlighted.
Dominicans, Haitians, and Cubans were found to account for the highest number of migrant fatalities in this region.
The Darien region, a treacherous jungle expanse between Panama and Colombia, recorded 141 migrant deaths in 2022.
Due to its remote, perilous terrain, and the presence of criminal gangs, Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for South America commented, “The fact that we know so little about migrants who disappear in the Americas is a grim reality.”
He also drew attention to the heart-wrenching impacts on the families searching endlessly for their missing kin.
Surveys conducted by the IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix shed light on the scale of the issue, revealing that 1 in 25 respondents reported someone they were traveling with had gone missing during their journey.
IOM has made the full report on 2022 migrant deaths in the Americas available here:
