The IOM’s Missing Migrants Project report warned that 2021 was the year with the highest registered number of deaths among migrants in the Americas since the inception of the program in 2014. From December to January 2021, 1,238 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded in the Americas: 596 in North America, 324 in Central America, 180 in the Caribbean, and 148 in South America. In comparison, 798 deaths were recorded in 2020 in the Americas, 371 in North America, 165 in Central America, 163 in the Caribbean, and 99 in South America. These deaths are mostly related to the lack of options for safe and regular mobility, which increases the likelihood of migrants opting for irregular migration pathways that put their lives at risk.
NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA
920 migrant lives were lost in these two regions in 2021, up from 536 in 2020 for an increase of 72 percent. In 2019, 655 migrant deaths and disappearances were registered in both regions.
276 of the migrant deaths registered in North America in 2021 were men, 76 women, and 8 children and teenagers, while it was not possible to determine the sex or age of a further 236 people. The death of 20 migrant women was recorded in Central America, along with 120 men, and 10 children and teenagers, while it was not possible to determine the sex or age of a further 17 people.
UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER
2021 was the deadliest year at this border since the Missing Migrants Project began collecting data. In 2021, 728 migrant deaths and disappearances of migrants were recorded, 53 percent more than in 2020, when 476 deaths and disappearances were recorded, and 39 percent more than in 2019, when 524 were registered. According to the report, this is the third deadliest border region in the world after the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert.
DARIEN GAP
According to data from the Missing Migrants Project, 51 migrant deaths were recorded in the Darién Gap in 2021, up from 26 in 2020 and 40 in 2019. Anecdotal reports indicate that a large number of migrants die in the Darién Gap and their remains are never recovered, so the figures presented probably reflect only a small fraction of the true number of lives lost. This is due to the challenges involved in collecting this data, as discussed in the report.
THE CARIBBEAN
The islands of the Caribbean receive a significant number of migrants and refugees, who use highly dangerous maritime and land routes. This migratory dynamic increases the vulnerability of migrants to exploitation, human trafficking. and other human rights violations, and makes them prone to losing their lives during transit.
During 2021, 180 migrant deaths and disappearances of migrants were recorded in the Caribbean, up from 163 in 2020 and 160 in 2019.
44 of the deaths recorded in 2021 were men, 22 women, and 3 boys, girls and teenagers. In addition, it was not possible to determine the sex or age of 111 people.
The most dangerous routes detected are discussed in detail in the report, including maritime routes to different destinations in the United States of America, maritime routes originating in Venezuela, and the maritime route from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.
ROUTE FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC TO PUERTO RICO
65 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded on this route in 2021, up from 58 in 2020 and 6 in 2019. This is a very dangerous route due to the risk of extreme environmental conditions on the high seas and the unsuitability of the vessels employed.
Since 2020, the Missing Migrants Project has intensified monitoring, data collection and articulation with IOM offices in this region, including the national offices in the Dominican Republic, Bahamas and Guyana to improve the documentation of migrant deaths. Thanks to these efforts, there was an increase in verified and recorded incidents in 2020 and 2021. The so-called “Yolas shipwrecks” are often “invisible shipwrecks” that happen without the knowledge of the authorities or the media.
ROUTE FROM THE CARIBBEAN TO THE UNITED STATES
In 2021, 67 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded on this route. This represents an increase of 272 percent, compared to the 18 deaths recorded in 2020. An increase in the migratory transit along this route was observed in 2020, likely related to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in countries of the Caribbean and South America.
ROUTES FROM VENEZUELA TO THE CARIBBEAN
In the wake of the Venezuelan economic crisis, many people have been forced to leave the country through irregular routes, including dangerous overseas crossings to Caribbean nations such as Aruba, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago. During 2021, 27 migrant deaths and disappearances were recorded on these routes, down from 33 in 2020 and 84 in 2019. According to anecdotal reports, many migrants, especially Venezuelan nationals, prefer to use the land route through the Darién Gap instead of going to Caribbean nations due to the risks of using maritime routes, which could explain the decrease in deaths in 2021, compared to 2020 and 2019.
On the migration routes of the Caribbean, the Project has documented the second highest number of deaths and disappearances of migrants in the region, after the United States-Mexico border, with 800 lives lost between 2014 and 2020. The leading cause of migrant deaths in the Caribbean is drowning in shipwrecks along the different maritime routes within, to, and from the region. Due to the difficulty of monitoring the maritime routes and the possibility of many vessels disappearing without a trace, the number of deaths that have occurred during migration in the Caribbean is very likely much higher than the documented figures.
CONCLUSIONS
The 1,238 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded in the Americas during the year 2021 are related to the lack of options for safe and regular mobility, which increases the likelihood of migrants opting for irregular migration pathways that put their lives and integrity at risk.
The year 2021 saw the highest number of recorded migrant deaths in the Americas since the beginning of the Missing Migrants Project. The main direct causes of these deaths include drowning, traffic accidents, violence, and extreme environmental conditions. Although some cases involving hate crimes, intolerance, and xenophobia were also recorded.
It is worth noting that relatively few government agencies exist in the Americas for the rigorous collection and systematization of data on migrant deaths that adhere to evidence-based selection criteria. Indicator 10.7.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) aims to generate quality data for better documentation of migrant deaths and disappearances during migratory transit.
A comprehensive evaluation and modification should be made of migration policies that do not take into account the available evidence on the deaths and disappearances of migrants, including the policies that point to a punitive or criminalizing approach to migration. The implementation of these policies causes deaths and disappearances during migratory transit by encouraging the use of irregular migration pathways through dangerous areas to evade detection by authorities.
Coordination between key actors in the Americas, including civil society organizations, research institutes, cooperation agencies, intergovernmental organizations, and United Nations agencies, should be strengthened to elevate the issue of migrant deaths and disappearances during migratory transit to the political and public agenda. This type of effort will allow the collection of quality data from reliable sources in order to have a better dimensioning of the lives lost during migration.
As indicated in Objective 8 of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, these coordinated international efforts to save lives must continue, especially the monitoring of the different regions and routes covered by this report, in order to have a clear and updated overview and provide information to government and civil society actors on the risks that irregular migration poses to migrants.
Source: IOM
You can read the full report in Spanish HERE and the Executive Summary in English HERE.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
