The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 686 deaths and disappearances of migrants on the US-Mexico border in 2022, making it the deadliest land route for migrants worldwide on record.
The figure represents nearly half of the 1,457 migrant deaths and disappearances recorded throughout the Americas in 2022, the deadliest year on record since IOM’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) began in 2014.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers have taken long and perilous paths through the Americas in hopes of reaching the US border to apply for protection [File: Go Nakamura/Reuters]
The data comes from IOM’s MMP annual overview, which underscores the growing death toll and increasing risks that migrants face throughout the region. These figures represent the lowest estimates available as many more deaths are likely to go unrecorded due to lack of data from official sources.
“These alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for decisive action by States,” said Michele Klein Solomon, IOM Regional Director for Regional Director for Central and North America and the Caribbean. “Enhancing data collection is crucial. Ultimately, what is needed is for countries to act on the data to ensure safe, regular migration routes are accessible.”
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) documented 686 deaths and disappearances among migrants on the frontier last year, but the actual figure is likely higher due missing data, including from the Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency. PHOTO: A smuggler, also known as a coyote, helps a migrant family from Honduras crawl past razor wire laden along the bank of the Rio Grande river as they enter the United States from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees Latif Read less
Although the data shows that deaths and disappearances in the US-Mexico border decreased by 6 per cent from the previous year, the 2022 figure is likely higher than the available information suggests, due to missing official data, including information from Texas border county coroner’s offices and the Mexican search and rescue agency.
In a landscape of sweeping desert, canyons and cactus-studded hills, migrants fall prey to heat stroke in summer and hypothermia in winter, U.S. border officials have said. Some bodies are never found. Paul Dillon, spokesperson for IOM, said that the figures recorded “represent the lowest estimates available.” PHOTO: A scout keeps a watch in the background as smugglers prepare to launch a raft with asylum-seeking migrants from the bank of the Rio Bravo del Norte, also known as the Rio Grande River, in Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Mexico June 17, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees Latif Read lessNelli, a six year old unaccompanied migrant girl from Honduras, stands wrapped in an emergency blanket as she is asked by a Customs and Border Protection official to board a bus after she and others crossed the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico, in La Joya, Texas, U.S., February 23, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees LatifAn asylum-seeking migrant man from Venezuela carries an elderly woman as he walks in the water to cross the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Del Rio, Texas, U.S., May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Go NakamuraAsylum seeking migrants from Nicaragua pull a migrant child to pass under the border fence after crossing Rio Grande river into the U.S. from Mexico, at Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., July 14, 2022. REUTERS/Go Nakamura] A smuggler, also known as a coyote, walks past buoys deployed to deter migrants in the Rio Grande river between the United States and Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. September 14, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees LatifA family navigates the bank of the Rio Grande past razor wire while searching for an entry point into the United States from Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. July 30, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees LatifAn asylum-seeking migrant carries a girl as he crosses the Rio Grande river towards Mexico near the International Bridge between Mexico and the U.S. in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Go NakamuraMigrant families navigate miles of concertina wire, on the bank of the Rio Grande river, while searching for a clearance to enter the United States from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. July 28, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees LatifMigrants from Central America jump a fence as they run south towards Mexico while being chased by a U.S. border patrol agent after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, U.S., May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latifn asylum-seeking migrant mother from Central America weeps as she carries her son through heavy rainfall after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, U.S., May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees LatifAsylum-seeking migrants’ families go under a barbed wire fence while being escorted by a local church group to the location where they turn themselves in to the U.S. Border Patrol, after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico, in Roma, Texas, U.S. April 16, 2021. REUTERS/Go NakamuraAlan Orlando, 13, of Honduras, stands amid a group of youth migrants traveling without adults as they cluster for safety while being guided by a smuggler across the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Roma, Texas, June 8, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees LatifFeet of Gleymar, 9, a migrant boy from Venezuela traveling with his family, are seen covered in a plastic bag before crossing the Rio Bravo river to request asylum in El Paso Texas, U.S., in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 2, 2023. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalezigrants, mostly from Nicaragua who were kidnapped by organized crime in the state of Durango and released days later by the Mexican Army, cross the Rio Bravo river to turn themselves in to U.S. Border Patrol agents to request asylum in El Paso, Texas, U.S., as seen from Ciudad Juarez, December 11, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis GonzalezA border patrol agent lights a path for asylum seeking migrants from Central America as they navigate through thick brush after being smuggled from Mexico and across the Rio Grande river into Roma, Texas, U.S., November 6, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees LatifSmugglers pull a raft full of asylum-seeking unaccompanied minors from Central and South America across the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Roma, Texas, U.S., May 13, 2022. REUTERS/Adrees LatifMigrants seeking refuge in United States cross the Rio Grande river back across the border into Ciudad Acuna, Mexico from their camp in Del Rio, Texas, U.S. September 22, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees LatifA migrant man seeking refuge in the United States walks back into the Mexican side crossing the Rio Bravo river which divides the border between Ciudad Acuna, Mexico and Del Rio, Texas, U.S., to avoid being deported, in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, September 19, 2021. REUTERS/Daniel BecerrilCompatriots Douglas and David assist Leon, a migrant from Venezuela, as he carries his handicapped cousin Luis as the migrants search for an entry point past razor wire after wading across the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S. September 15, 2023. The U.S.-Mexico border is the world’s deadliest land migration route, according to U.N. migration agency figures published on Tuesday, with hundreds losing their lives attempting to make perilous desert crossings. REUTERS/Adrees Latif Read less
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