Boats found, but hundreds of migrants missing on the route between Cuba and the United States

So far in 2024, at least 291 migrants have disappeared or lost their lives along dangerous Caribbean sea routes, according to the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Missing Migrants Program.

This tragic number represents an 18% increase compared to the 247 cases recorded in all of 2023, highlighting the growing danger of these journeys.

The Cuba-United States route: the most dangerous

The deadliest route is the one connecting Cuba with the United States, which has recorded 142 confirmed deaths this year.

Migrants attempting this dangerous journey face extreme conditions at sea and, in many cases, fall victim to human traffickers. The precarious conditions of the boats and the difficulties of the open sea have contributed to the rising mortality rate on this route.

Secondly, the route that une The Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico have recorded 91 deaths, while the routes to the Canary Islands and from Haiti to the Dominican Republic have seen 15 and one death, respectively.

Adverse and dangerous conditions in the Caribbean

Edwin Viales, regional monitor for the Americas for the Missing Migrants Project, underscored the seriousness of the situation during a working session with organizations in the region.

"The outlook is not encouraging. Now, more than ever, all coordinated international efforts in the Caribbean are needed to save lives," Viales said.

He also emphasized that these routes are not only used by migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean; in recent months, shipwrecks involving people from Africa have been detected.

One of the most recent incidents occurred on August 6, when the bodies of 14 people from Senegal and Mauritania were found on a small-scale boat off the coast of the Dominican Republic.

A similar incident was reported on April 13, when the bodies of nine people from Mauritania and Mali were found in Brazil, underscoring the concern.cupdue to an increase in transcontinental shipwrecks in the Caribbean. These shipwrecks left 70 dead in the 2021-2022 period.

Increase in transcontinental shipwrecks and discovery of empty vessels

In 2023, two shipwrecks possibly related to African migrants were recorded in Honduras and near the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In addition, 105 people were reported missing along the route between San Andrés and the Honduras-Nicaragua border. These cases are suspected to have been caused by forced disappearances at the hands of migrant trafficking groups and shipwrecks.

The situation in the Caribbean remains critical for migrants seeking to escape poverty and violence in their countries of origin. Sea routes have become death traps, and concerted international efforts are needed to address this humanitarian crisis.