UN Report Highlights ‘Unimaginable Horrors’ on Migration Routes to Europe
A new UN report highlights the dangers of irregular migration in sub-Saharan Africa. The risks of violence and kidnapping are highest in desert regions, it says.
“Many underestimate the risks and dangers and many die while crossing the desert or near borders,” the UNHCR said in its report, stressing that most migrants and refugees “also suffer serious human rights violations, including sexual violence, kidnappings, torture and physical abuse” on such migration routes.
The document, titled “Mapping for Protection Services Report — A routes-based approach to protection services along mixed movement routes” also said that conflicts in Sudan and across the entire Sahel region have further “compromised protection for migrants.”
In the past, the IOM has estimated that for every migrant known to have died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea, as many as two were lost in the desert and presumed to have died.
