On 26 February, IOM said that at least 7,667 people died or went missing on migration routes worldwide in 2025. Sea crossings remained among the deadliest routes. While lower than the nearly 9,200 deaths recorded in 2024, the decline reflects fewer people attempting dangerous irregular migration routes, particularly in the Americas, but is also due to restricted access to information and funding constraints for humanitarian actors documenting migrant deaths on key routes.
In 2025, at least 2,185 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean, while 1,214 were recorded on the Western Africa/Atlantic route toward the Canary Islands. Despite year-on-year declines, the real toll is likely higher, as at least 1,500 additional people were reported missing at sea but could not be verified due to limited access to search-and-rescue information. Though evidence on these “invisible shipwrecks” is scarce, at least 270 human remains washed ashore on Mediterranean coasts in 2025 without being linked to known shipwrecks.
IOM said that the Mediterranean is seeing an unprecedented number of migrant deaths in the first two months of 2026, with 606 recorded as of 24 February. Over the same timeframe, arrivals in Italy decreased from 6,358 to 2,465 (a 61per cent decrease). Yet there are reports of hundreds more missing at sea that cannot yet be verified. In the last two weeks alone, 23 human remains have been washed up on southern Italian and Libyan coasts. IOM stressed that the persistence of these deaths reflects the growing reach of trafficking and migrant smuggling networks that continue to exploit desperation along migration routes, exposing people to violence, abuse, and life-threatening journeys.
On 1 March, UNHCR Libya said 4 people died at sea near Tubruq while others are still missing. The same day, the Libyan Red Crescent confirmed that a migrant boat capsized in the area between Al-Tamimi and Umm Al-Razm, near Derna, and that two bodies have been recovered.
On 3 March, UNHCR Libya said that 112 people, including 39 Sudanese and 4 Somalis, were rescued off the western coast of Libya after more than 24 hours at sea.
Meanwhile, deportations of migrants from Libya are continuing. On 27 February, IOM said that 478 migrants returned home safely from Libya via two IOM voluntary humanitarian return flights, one to Bamako and one to Lagos. Another 175 migrants returned to Dhaka earlier in the week. In addition, the Libyan authorities continue with deportations of migrants.