OIM — Fatal Journeys Volume 3 Part 1: Improving Data on Missing Migrants — 2017

Since 2014, more than 22,500 migrant deaths and dis­ap­pear­ances have been record­ed by the Inter­na­tion­al Orga­ni­za­tion for Migra­tion glob­al­ly. The real fig­ure could be much high­er, but many deaths are nev­er record­ed. Fatal Jour­neys Vol­ume 3 – Part 1 pro­vides a glob­al review of exist­ing data sources, and illus­trates the need for improve­ments in the ways that data on miss­ing migrants are col­lect­ed, analysed and communicated.

The report high­lights three key ways in which to improve the col­lec­tion, shar­ing and report­ing of data on miss­ing migrants. First, a grow­ing num­ber of inno­v­a­tive sources of data on miss­ing migrants, such as “big data”, could be used to improve data on migrant fatal­i­ties. Sec­ond, much more could be done to gath­er data to increase iden­ti­fi­ca­tion rates, such as devel­op­ing intrare­gion­al mech­a­nisms to share data more effec­tive­ly. Third, improv­ing data on miss­ing migrants also requires more thought and improved prac­tice in the use and com­mu­ni­ca­tion of such data. Improv­ing infor­ma­tion and report­ing on who these miss­ing migrants are, where they come from, and above all, when they are most at risk, is cru­cial to build­ing a holis­tic response to reduce the num­ber of migrant deaths.