Chapter 1 Migrant Deaths: An International Overview
Figure 1.4: Deaths in the Mediterranean by migrants’ region of origin, January–September 2014 <1% 11% MENA 30%
Sub-Saharan Africa Not specified/Unknown
29%
Horn of Africa South Asia 30%
n = 3,072
Source: IOM calculations based on data compiled from various sources. See footnote 2. Notes: (a) Generally, regions correspond with UN classifications of regions. (b) Deaths occurring while trying to reach Spanish enclaves are included in totals for the Mediterranean.
In addition to the Mediterranean, a small number sub-Saharan Africans have been known to die in southern Africa, while others have died in the deserts of the Sahara, and one large incident on Lake Albert claimed the lives of 251 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because data are very poor in some regions such as in the Sahara and parts of Western and Central Africa, it is certainly possible that greater numbers of sub-Saharan Africans are dying and a larger share is doing so within Africa (as opposed to the Mediterranean) than we are aware of. In the first nine months of 2014, about 12 per cent (473) of migrants whose deaths have been recorded around the world are from the Horn of Africa (see Figure 1.3). The majority of these deaths have occurred in the Mediterranean, although boat journeys to Yemen have also resulted in significant numbers of deaths, with an estimate of just over one quarter (26%) of all deaths of Horn migrants occurring while crossing the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. This number represents a significant jump from 2013, when only 5 deaths were recorded, but remains well below peak numbers in 2007, when annual deaths topped 1,000 (see Chapter 5 and UNHCR, 2013). A smaller number of migrants from the Horn of Africa are recorded dying in the desert travelling through Sudan to northern Africa, although as mentioned previously, data in this region are very poor and many deaths are not accounted for.
26
Other groups most at risk include migrants and asylum-seekers from SouthEast Asia, whose deaths account for an estimated 6 per cent of border-related fatalities globally, according to IOM calculations for 2014 (see Figure 1.3). The vast majority of these deaths occur within the region, with those in the Bay of Bengal accounting for roughly three quarters (205) of deaths in South-East Asia
Fatal Journey 2014.indb 26
10/16/2014 4:18:43 PM