According to the IOM, more than 1,238 people have died in transit through the countries of Central America and Mexico in 2021, including about 51 children
Bodies of migrants who died when the overcrowded truck they were traveling in overturned in southern Mexico, December 11, 2021. (Photo: Cubasí)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announces that 192 migrants have lost their lives en route to the United States so far this year.
According to the IOM, more than 1,238 people have died in transit through the countries of Central America and Mexico in 2021, including about 51 children. According to the report, 728 of those cases occurred at the United States-Mexico border crossing.
The agency has also reported that from 2014 to Friday (July 29, 2022) the deaths of 1,558 migrants or refugees were recorded on their journey.
IOM, along with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has called on governments to protect migrants’ lives and protect migrants’ rights.
“To protect the rights of people in a state of mobility, strengthen responses to international protection needs, fight migrant smuggling and human trafficking,” they claimed in a statement.
The two entities have called on the authorities of the above areas to facilitate access to safe and regular routes for migrants, especially women, girls, boys and others with special protection needs.
Last June, 46 migrants were found dead in an abandoned truck in a deserted area near a highway on the outskirts of San Antonio, Texas, about 150 miles north of the US-Mexico border.
Some analysts warn that the repression of migrants has led them to take the most dangerous routes to cross the US border, or put themselves in the hands of traffickers who promise them safe passage in exchange for a sum of money.
This is while US President Joe Biden promised more humane treatment of migrants and asylum seekers during his election campaign and immediately upon his arrival at the White House on January 6, 2021. So far, however, he has not kept his word.
