Fatal Journeys: Tracking Lives Lost during Migration
Figure 1.3: Deaths by migrants’ region of origin, January–September 2014 1%
<1% 6%
Sub-Saharan Africa
6% 30%
MENA Unknown/Not specified
12%
Horn of Africa South-East Asia Central America Caribbean
22% 23%
Other n = 4,077
Source: IOM own calculations based on data from various sources. See footnote 2. Notes: (a) Generally, regions correspond with UN divisions of regions. (b) Sub-Saharan Africa excludes the Horn of Africa. The majority of deaths occurred while trying to reach Europe, although 251 died crossing Lake Albert between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and some incidents occurred in Southern Africa. (c) South-East Asia includes Bangladesh and southern borders of China. (d) Deaths listed in Central America refer to both cases in which the nationalities of the dead are confirmed and to those in which nationality is assumed. (e) Most of the not specified/unknown are thought to be sub-Saharan Africans and Syrians. (f) In several instances, the region of origin was extrapolated based on available information.
In 2014, those dying in the Mediterranean have tended to be from west and central sub-Saharan Africa; the Middle East and North Africa, with most originating in the Syrian Arab Republic, Occupied Palestinian Territory and Egypt; and the Horn of Africa (see Figure 1.4). The vast majority, estimated at about 75 per cent, die along the Central Mediterranean route from northern Africa (usually Libya) towards Italy and Malta (IOM estimate). Many are fleeing countries embroiled in conflict and known for widespread human rights abuses; in 2013, 63 per cent of all detections of irregular arrivals to Europe by sea were from the Syrian Arab Republic, Eritrea, Afghanistan and Somalia, with 46 per cent from the Syrian Arab Republic and Eritrea alone (Frontex, 2014a). Again in 2014 Eritreans and Syrians have been the most prominent nationalities, accounting for over 46 per cent of all sea arrivals in Italy in the first eight months of the year (information obtained from the Italian Ministry of Interior). Numbers of Palestinians attempting to cross the Mediterranean have also increased in recent months.
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