The Hidden Toll: Life and Death on Africa’s Migrant Routes

AFP

United Nations: Refugees and migrants face extreme violence, abuse, and exploitation while traversing Africa to reach the Mediterranean, with more deaths occurring on land routes than at sea, according to a recent UN-backed report.

Nearly 30,000 migrants have been reported missing or dead while trying to enter Europe via the Mediterranean over the previous ten years. However, the journey through Africa to the coast is even more perilous. 

The report, compiled by United Nations agencies for refugees and migrants along with the Mixed Migration Centre, suggests that the death toll in the African deserts far exceeds that of the Mediterranean crossings.

Based on more than 31,000 interviews with refugees and migrants, the report revealed that at least 1,180 people have died while crossing the Sahara Desert between January 2020 and May 2024.

This year alone, five deaths per day have been recorded on these desert routes, totaling at least 870 deaths so far, according to Laurence Hart of the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

These figures are likely underestimates, as thousands of deaths go unreported.

The journey across the Sahara is fraught with dangers including torture, kidnapping for ransom, human trafficking, sexual violence, robbery, arbitrary detention, and collective expulsions.

Migrants often find themselves abandoned by smugglers, and those who fall ill are sometimes left to die in the desert. With no adequate aid structures or search and rescue systems in place, the chances of survival are grim.

Despite the “unimaginable horrors” along these routes, the number of people attempting the dangerous land crossings is on the rise. This increase is driven by deteriorating conditions in their home countries, including conflicts in the Sahel region, Sudan, and the Horn of Africa, as well as the devastating impacts of climate change, xenophobia, and racism.

The report emphasized the urgent need for increased protection along these routes. Vincent Cochetel, UNHCR’s special envoy for the central and western Mediterranean, highlighted that the goal is not to facilitate migration but to protect refugees and migrants from abuse and violations.

He noted that most people on the move globally are not heading to Europe.

Pollsters conducting the survey found that nearly 40 percent of migrants faced physical violence during their journey.

Additionally, 18 percent  were at risk of kidnapping, 15 percent faced sexual violence, and 14 percent risked death. Organ trafficking also poses a significant threat, with some migrants being drugged and having organs removed without consent.

This harrowing report underscores the need for urgent action to address the severe abuses and high death tolls faced by refugees and migrants on their journey through Africa.