Migrant deaths soaring across the Americas

Over half of fatalities, disappearances in 2021 at US-Mexico border, study finds

More than 1,200 migrants died or disappeared in the Americas last year while on their journeys crossing frontiers in the hope for a better life, with more than half the fatalities and disappearances occurring on the US-Mexico border, a study has found.

The number recorded for the Americas in 2021, at 1,238, is the highest since research began in 2014 for the Missing Migrants Project, or MMP, an initiative backed by the International Organization for Migration, or IOM.

The United States' border with Mexico has become the world's most dangerous land crossing, with 728 migrants dying or disappearing last year, the study found.

The dangers at the US-Mexico border were brought home by the discovery of 53 bodies in an abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas, late last month. That brought the total number of deaths from border crossings this year to 493.

"The number of deaths on the United States-Mexico border last year is significantly higher than in any year prior, even before COVID-19," said Edwin Viales, author of an IOM report on migrants in the Americas in 2021. "Yet, this number remains an undercount due to the diverse challenges for data collection."

Established in 1951, the IOM is an intergovernmental organization concerned with migration, and it works closely with governmental and private partners, according to its website.

Due to the lack of official sources of information, figures stated in the MMP report should be considered an undercount, the IOM report said.

The data shows that the largest demographic on migrant deaths in the Americas is unidentified people－nearly 500 individuals died on migratory routes in 2021 and remain unidentified.

Of those who have been identified, Mexicans make up the largest proportion (154 individuals), followed by Guatemalans (129) and Venezuelans (94), the report stated.

These deaths and disappearances are caused by the lack of options for safe travel, which increases the likelihood of migrants choosing irregular migration pathways that put their lives at risk, according to the report. It calls for the countries to save lives and prevent further deaths and disappearances.

Immigrant advocates have argued that the increasing number of deaths at the US-Mexico border is the result of pandemic-related policies. Title 42, a World War II-era health policy, was restored during the presidency of Donald Trump amid the pandemic and is still in place. Title 42 allows border agents to turn away migrants at the border without being processed, resulting in repeated attempts.

Shutting down doors

The US' "Remain in Mexico" policy effectively closed the border to the vast majority of migrants and asylum-seekers and required them to stay in Mexico, where more than 8,000 migrants had been attacked or kidnapped by the end of 2021, according to the Human Rights First group.

The US Supreme Court ruled last week that the policy can be ended, but it will stay in place for a few more weeks, according to the US Department of Homeland Security.

"We need to wait until the Supreme Court's decision is actually communicated to the lower court, to the federal District Court and the Northern District of Texas, and, once that occurs, the District Court should lift its injunction that is preventing us from ending the program," US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on Sunday on ABC and CBS news shows.

A 640-kilometer-plus section of a steel wall up to 9.1 meters high, erected during the Trump administration, has also elevated the danger of border crossing. More migrants are reported to have fallen to their deaths or suffered serious injuries when they attempted to get over the wall.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com