The border between Mexico and the United States, the Caribbean Sea and the Darién Gap are the areas with the highest recorded number of migrant deaths in all of the Americas in 2022, according to Andrea García Borja, data analyst with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The IOM official clarified that the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Europe remains the most risky route for migrants worldwide, but emphasized that the border between Mexico and the United States is the most dangerous land route.

According to an IOM report released on September 12, “[i]n 2022, 686 migrant deaths (including 105 females, 468 males and 29 minors) were recorded at the United

States-Mexico border crossing”.

The analyst explained that 2022 was “especially deadly” for migrants along this border, pointing to “the lack of regular migration routes for these people.” as the main reason. “They are forced to risk their lives in these very dangerous migration routes,” she added.

She also pointed out that people lose their lives mainly “by drowning in the Rio Grande and also by being exposed to the extreme weather conditions of the Sonora and Chihuahua Deserts.” Testimonies collected over the years among the people who have undertaken the perilous journey corroborate this assessment.

Cris Beiler, a Venezuelan Migrant, told Voice of America that “[the journey] is quite difficult and risky because you put your life and the lives of your children at risk; people who cross with small children have it very difficult.”

With fear, migrants travel through the Caribbean Sea and the Darien Gap

“The routes along the Caribbean Sea are the second most dangerous on the entire continent, with 350 deaths in 2022, the second-highest recorded figure. Then there is the Darién Gap, where 141 deaths and disappearances have been recorded… we know the actual number of people losing their lives there is much higher,” García explained.

These Caribbean maritime routes, she explained, go either to the mainland United States or Puerto Rico, from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, or from the Caribbean islands to Florida.

According to the IOM report, 203 deaths and disappearances were recorded along the maritime route from the Caribbean to the US, 206% more than in 2021; 150 of the victims were Cuban nationals.

In this regard, Cubans are the national group with the greatest number of migrant deaths in the Americas in 2022 (185 people), followed by Mexicans and Venezuelans (141). Next are the countries of Guatemala and Haiti -with 92 each-, the Dominican Republic (59), Nicaragua (57), Honduras (44), Ecuador (43) and El Salvador (13).

A discouraging future

The trends in the death of migrants provide a bleak picture as more than 700 have been recorded along the migration routes of the Americas in 2023 alone, according to information provided by the IOM official. Although the number is smaller than the figure for the same period of 2022, it is expected to exceed the annual total due to the underreporting of cases each month, which makes the total number increase significantly at the end of the year.

“On the Mexico-US border, we have recorded 325 deaths and disappearances; However, I am sure that this number will increase at the end of the year… the figures so far show that 2023 is being deadlier in this regard”, she added.

Likewise, 71 deaths have been recorded along migration routes toward the United States in the Caribbean, “the second highest number of migrant deaths in 2023.” The third most dangerous region in the Americas this year has been the Darién National Park, where the deaths of 20 migrants have been recorded so far.

García also emphasized that the trend of people traveling in large families with children will continue in 2023.

In this regard, the spokesperson of the US Department of State, Matthew Miller, explained to reporters the policies of the US government to stop the trafficking of children crossing the border from Mexico for sexual exploitation, especially in the state of California. He pointed out that although the department’s job is to combat human trafficking, the Department of Homeland Security is in charge of specific border operations.

Translated by José Rafael Medina