Over the past few years, migrants and refugees in transit have increasingly fallen under the global spotlight, with greater media coverage of the often-perilous routes and situations they face on land and at sea. Although most refugees end up in neighbouring countries (eg 1 million Syrians in Lebanon and 1.5 million Afghans in Pakistan), others will move farther in the hope of finding protection and safety, traversing long distances by foot, road, rail and boat.
In 2017 alone, the International Organization of Migration (IOM)’s Missing Migrants project counted 6,142 deaths of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers as they travelled through global migratory routes. 1 Most of these (an estimated 3,139 deaths) occurred in the Mediterranean region, with the most common causes of death being drowning or presumed drowning. A breakdown of the top 10 causes of death (Table 3.3. 1) shows the harsh physical environments …