Why are refugee deaths at an all-time excessive? | Refugees Information

The Worldwide Group for Migration (IOM) says 2023 was the deadliest yr on document for refugees and migrants, with at the least 8,565 folks dying on migration routes internationally.

This can be a 20 p.c rise from the earlier yr.

The earlier document was 8,064 deaths in 2016. On the time, there was a surge of refugee deaths within the Mediterranean due to the numbers of individuals making an attempt to flee battle zones, together with Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Many refugees fleeing battle zones have tried to achieve European international locations for security.

 

How and the place did refugees and migrants die?

No less than 8,565 refugees and migrants died final yr, greater than half by drowning throughout sea voyages within the Mediterranean. 9 p.c have been brought on by car accidents and seven p.c by violence. The second-highest variety of migrant deaths after 2016 at 7,141 was in 2022, with 2020 recording the bottom variety of migrant deaths at 4,032.

In December, 61 refugees and asylum seekers died in a shipwreck off the coast of Libya whereas at the least 25 folks drowned in a shipwreck off the coast of Tunisia in April.

No less than 3,129 deaths and disappearances have been recorded within the Mediterranean since 2017, making it the deadliest route for refugees. In Africa, 1,866 deaths occurred primarily within the Sahara Desert and on the ocean path to the Canary Islands. In Asia, 2,138 deaths have been reported, principally of Afghan and Rohingya refugees trying to flee violence and battle in their international locations of origin.

What has modified within the final yr?

The rise in deaths of migrants and refugees comes at a time when their rights are more and more below assault from international locations they hope to achieve and in nations the place they hope to make new properties.

In some international locations, refugees are being expelled. Within the Netherlands, for instance, hundreds of third-country nationals, principally college students and younger employees from Asia and Africa, who had fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have been advised to go away the nation.

Many international locations are limiting authorized routes for refugees to enter, that means they’ve little alternative however to undertake much more harmful journeys to achieve security.

In the UK, for instance, there isn’t a visa route for refugees to journey to the UK. The Refugee Council this week mentioned refugee resettlements within the UK had plummeted to a 10-year low of 766 for the entire of 2023 on account of the restrictions on authorized routes to security.

European international locations are additionally teaming up with “departure international locations” to limit refugees and migrants. Final yr, the European Union signed a 10-million-euro ($11m) take care of Tunisia, the place many try sea crossings throughout the Mediterranean, to crack down on undocumented folks making an attempt to get to Europe.

In the meantime, circumstances for refugees and asylum seekers have gotten insupportable in lots of locations, forcing folks to maneuver on once more. This week, Human Rights Watch reported that Malaysia is holding hundreds of refugees and migrants in a community of “violent, squalid” detention centres through which they’re disadvantaged of primary requirements and might be topic to torture.

Who’re the refugees and migrants?

IOM has been monitoring deaths and disappearances by means of the Lacking Migrants Challenge since 2014.

Over time, it has discovered that about 13 p.c of the overall variety of refugees and migrants are kids below the age of 18 whereas 48 p.c are ladies and women.

Many are victims of human trafficking. From 2002 to 2021, the Counter Trafficking Knowledge Collaborative (CTDC) mentioned 156,330 particular person instances of trafficking had been reported.

Many refugees are victims of pure disasters. In 2022, greater than 30 million folks have been internally displaced – pressured to flee to a different space of their very own nation – due to pure disasters, comparable to flooding or earthquakes, in line with figures from the Inner Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).

As of 2023, a complete of 114 million folks have been pressured to flee their residence international locations as a result of persecution, human rights violations, violence, armed battle and severe public dysfunction, in line with the Workplace of the United Nations Excessive Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Nonetheless, “most people who find themselves pressured to flee by no means cross a global border, remaining displaced inside their very own international locations,” mentioned Shabia Mantoo, a UNHCR spokesperson. “As for refugees [those who cross international borders in search of safety], most keep in international locations neighbouring or near their international locations of origin.”

What’s the distinction between migrants, asylum seekers and refugees? 

• Migrants are individuals who journey from one location to a different to alter their residence on both a brief or everlasting foundation for any purpose. This may be inside their native international locations or outdoors of them. There is no such thing as a formal authorized definition of a migrant.
• Refugees are individuals who have fled their international locations of origin “for causes of feared persecution, battle, generalised violence, or different circumstances which have significantly disturbed public order and, in consequence, require worldwide safety”, in line with the UNHCR. This definition was decided by the Refugee Conference of 1951.
• Asylum seekers are individuals who have fled their native international locations due to persecution, violence or battle and are in search of worldwide safety. Their standing as refugees has not but been decided. Asylum seekers could also be granted the standing of refugees within the international locations they flee to, however not all will.