Migrants: the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea are now mass graves, while there are 350 thousand asylum seekers, almost all of whom are Sudanese

ROMA – In 2023 theInternational Organization for Migration (OIM) confirmed the deaths of 8,542 migrants globally – the highest number since it began collecting data in 2014. 37 percent of the tragedies occurred in the Mediterranean. The High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), however, this year has registered more than 350 thousand asylum seekers, the majority of whom are Sudanese who have reached North Africa, in particular Tunisia, in search of protection and security.

Departures by sea from Northern Africa. Between January and August, more than 134,000 people left North and West Africa by sea for Europe: a decrease of 24 percent compared to last year. As of September 17 – according to Missing Migrants Project dell’OIM – 1,450 people can be considered dead or missing during the crossing: a decrease of 44 percent compared to 2023. The organization highlights that over 97 thousand Sudanese refugees have arrived in Libya in the last year, with an average ranging between 300 and 400 new daily flows.

The lack of security. In recent years – explains the IOM to the United Nations Security Council – there has been no improvement in access to protection along the main routes, on the contrary, the possibility of requesting asylum has become increasingly difficult and at the same time increased collective pushbacks, prohibited by international law. A UNHCR report documents all the risks people face during displacement: death, gender violence, kidnapping for ransom, trafficking, robbery and physical violence. For this reason – explains the UNHCR to the Security Council – saving lives at sea and providing humanitarian assistance are practices that should not be criminalized as they represent an obligation for all human beings.

The causes of migration. They are mainly of an economic nature: 44 percent of those who leave their homeland seek a life opportunity elsewhere – specifies the OMI; 29 percent of people are fleeing war and conflict and 26 percent are fleeing the risk of retaliation and personal violence. A further element of instability is given by the climate change crisis, which is bringing droughts and floods to many places on earth. Those fleeing from sub-Saharan Africa often remain trapped in North Africa, where reception conditions are inhospitable. Almost 70 percent of migrants interviewed by the IOM in Libya between June and July complained that food prices were too high, while 63 percent complained that daily wages were too low. A United Nations mission in Libya has found that the country cannot be considered a safe place for disembarkation due to frequent rights violations, including illegal detention, torture and trafficking.

The routes are increasingly dangerous. Migrants follow even more dangerous routes to reach Europe, as evidenced by the increase in arrivals on the Atlantic route from West Africa. The international community should not allow the Sahara desert and the Mediterranean Sea to continue to be mass graves for migrants – says the IOM – which calls for the intensification of search and rescue missions to save human lives and to work on the creation of corridors humanitarian aid for those in need of international protection.