Topic summary
People smuggler
Extracted from the Wikipedia article People smuggling.
In 2015, the ongoing civil war in Syria has led to massive displacement and reliance on people smugglers to assist people to seek sanctuary in Europe. This has also led to unprecedented movements – and deaths – across the . According to UNHCR statistics, there have been almost one million arrivals by sea in Europe in 2015, and more than 2900 dead or missing migrants. According to the IOM Missing Migrants Project, there have been more than 3800 deaths during migration around the world in 2015, and over 70,000 from 2014 to 2024: some 10,000 of these in the Americas and 30,000 of these in the Mediterranean. However, a 2024 UNHCR report revealed that deaths in the Sahara desert are estimated to be double those occurring in the Mediterranean Sea, with land route fatalities being significantly under-documented due to the remoteness of desert crossings.