Migrants aboard an overcrowded boat react as they are approached by the crew of the migrant search and rescue ship Sea-Watch 5, operated by the German NGO Sea-Watch, during a rescue operation in the Search and Rescue (SAR) zone in the central Mediterranean, off Libya, on August 11, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
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 on Tuesday (April 21, 2026).
The UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) 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.
Published – April 21, 2026 04:43 pm IST