7,900 people died, disappeared on migration routes in 2025: UN

AFP | Geneva

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Around 7,900 people died or disappeared on migration routes in 2025, taking the total dead and missing since 2014 beyond 80,000, the United Nations’ migration agency said Tuesday.

The UN’s International Organization for Migration said people were being forced into dangerous, irregular journeys when safe pathways were out of reach, and urged countries to find the political will to save more lives on migration routes.

The deaths or disappearance of around “7,900 people were documented on global migration routes worldwide in 2025”, the IOM said.

The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project “has documented more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances during migration since 2014,” the agency said.

“While these figures represent only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people, they nonetheless underscore the need for urgent action to end migrant deaths and address the complex needs of families left behind,” said the IOM.

The 7,904 deaths and disappearances documented in 2025 was lower than the 9,200 figure given for 2024 -- the highest annual total on record.

Nonetheless, the IOM said the deaths and disappearances “mark a continuation and escalation of a global failure to end these preventable deaths”.

“2025 was marked by an unprecedented level of aid cuts and restriction of information on dangerous irregular routes, rendering more and more missing migrants invisible,” it said.

US border changes

In the Americas, northbound movements along the Central American route fell sharply compared to 2024.

The primary reason is “the great change in migration policies by the US administration and the closure of the southern border”, said Maria Moita, the IOM’s humanitarian response and recovery director.