:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/VUF7FQZPHNAGPADVTSONJSWWRM.webp "The US – Mexico border is the most dangerous land migration route in the world: How many people have died and from which countries?")
The enormous flow of migrants seeking to cross USA it doesn’t stop This situation has caused people to face increasing dangers on their route, something that has been reflected in the latest report from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) published this Tuesday, which reveals record numbers of deaths and disappearances of migrants throughout the American continent.
During the year 2022, along the border between Mexico and the United States 686 dead or missing migrants were registered, which has made it the the most dangerous land migration route in the worldindicates the IOM.
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Not only that, last year throughout the American continent there were at least 1,457 migrants dead or missing. This is the deadliest year on record since the Missing Migrants Project (MMP) of the IOM will begin its activities in 2014.
The figure is higher than that recorded in 2021, when 1,249 people died or disappeared on their way to USA.
“These alarming figures are a stark reminder of the need for States to act firmly”Michele Klein Solomon, regional director of the IOM for North America, Central America and the Caribbean.
“Improving data collection is crucial. Because then the States will work on the basis of that data to ensure that there are safe and regular migratory routes.”he added.
Of the 686 deaths in the border between the United States and Mexico Last year, 105 were women, 468 were men, 29 were minors, and in the case of 84, the sex could not be determined. The total number of deaths is 6% lower than that of 2021, when 729 were registered.
However, the IOM He specified that at the time of preparation of the report, there was still no complete data for the cross-border region of Texasnor had the annual data from the Mexican search and rescue unit been received, the Beta Groups.
The main causes of death of the 686 people were drowning (213), vehicle accidents or deaths linked to dangerous transport (142), by extreme environmental conditions and the lack of shelter, food and water (129), disease and lack of access to adequate health care (8), violence (twenty-one), accidents (19) and by unknown causes (154).
Regarding the exact place of the deaths, almost half (307) occurred in the deserts of Sonora (USA) and Chihuahua (Mexico).
The IOM analysis also concluded that The countries with the highest number of deceased migrants were Mexico, Guatemala and Cuba.
The IOM indicated that one of the most worrying trends in 2022 was the increase in deaths on migratory routes in the Caribbean, with 350 documented deaths; compared to 245 registered in 2021 and less than 170 in previous years.
Only on the route between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico there were 104 deaths and disappearances of migrants.
Among the nationalities of those who died on these routes, the majority were from the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.
While in the jungle Darien National Parkon the border between Panama and Colombiathere were 141 documented deaths of migrants in 2022. A figure above that registered in 2021, when there were 51 deaths, and in 2020 about 26 cases.
In it Darien People face the dangers of nature and the increasing presence of gangs that rob and extort migrants.
“These data represent a minimum estimate of the real figures, reports continue to indicate that a large number of migrants die in the Darién National Park — there are even testimonies of people who have buried other deceased migrants in the jungle — and their remains are never recovered”, the IOM noted in its report.
The IOM also surveyed people who had crossed the Darien. Analysis of the responses revealed that 1 in 25 respondents said that some of the people who traveled with them had disappeared.
One of the testimonies is that of David, a young 26-year-old Venezuelan migrant, father of two children, one eight years old and the other six years old, who decided to leave Venezuela to go to work Medellin, Colombia, since the salary he earned as a mechanic was not enough to support his family. Then He set out on his way to the United States through Darién.
“I think about those people who stayed in the jungle. People with broken bones, waiting days for help and no one stops. “I saw dead people on the banks of the river, dead in their tents, the body of a girl who passed by me in the river and the screams of pain of the women, I can’t get it out of my head,” David said to the IOM when he was a few minutes away from crossing irregularly into the United States and ending his long journey.
“The fact that we know very little about migrants who disappear in the Americas is a very discouraging reality,” said Marcelo Pisani, IOM regional director for South America. “The impacts of families being left behind in the endless search for a missing loved one are truly profound.”
It should be noted that some 250,000 people arrived in Panama through the Darien in 2022 and that more than 300,000 people have made the trip so far in 2023.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
