Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration
higher than the 630 migrants who are estimated to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean in 2007, the peak number prior to 2011 (ibid.). Deaths in recent months have reached devastating levels, with the most deadly shipwreck claiming an estimated 500 lives in early September (IOM, 2014). In comparison, about 100 lives a year, on average, have been lost in the seas bordering Australia since 2000, although the numbers dropped significantly in 2014 (see Chapter 6). In the United States, between fiscal year 1998 and fiscal year 2013, a total of 6,029 deceased migrants were found on the US side of the border with Mexico, which is approximately 377 persons per year over a 16-year period (see Chapter 2). The reasons for these differences have not been fully investigated, but the jump in numbers of fatalities in the Mediterranean this year likely reflects a dramatic increase in the numbers of migrants trying to reach Europe. In 2014 numbers have spiked, with over 112,000 arrivals by sea of irregular migrants reported by the Italian authorities in just the first eight months of the year (information obtained from the Italian Ministry of Interior), almost three times as many as in the entire year of 2013. Many are fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty, with Eritreans and Syrians constituting the largest share of arrivals in Italy this year. The deteriorating security situation in Libya, where many migrants reside prior to their departure for Europe, has also increased migration pressures. Africa Estimates of numbers of sub-Saharan migrants who die while trying to reach northern Africa – either with the ultimate goal of continuing on to Europe or of remaining to work in Libya and other countries in the region – are very hazy. According to the blog Fortress Europe, since 1996 at least 1,790 migrants have perished crossing the Sahara, although it is acknowledged that this underestimates the true number (see Table 1.1). Data compiled by IOM suggest only 1.4 per cent of deaths in the first nine months of 2014 occurred in the Sahara (see Figure 1.2); however, this estimate is hampered by lack of available data and certainly does not include all the lives lost through migration in the region. Testimonies of migrants who have journeyed through the Sahara indicate the prevalence of death along this route. Knowledge is more complete regarding flows of migrants from the Horn of Africa who cross the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to the shores of Yemen. About 195 migrants have been known to die or go missing while making the crossing from 2010 to 2013 (UNHCR, 2013), and already in 2014 over 120 migrants have lost their lives in several large incidents (IOM estimate), comprising an estimated 3 per cent of deaths globally (see Figure 1.2). Numbers for 2014 are up considerably from 2013 and 2012, although they remain far lower than the peak in 2007 when deaths topped 1,000 (UNHCR, 2007). While deaths occurring
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