BERLIN: At least 7,667 people died or went missing last year on migration routes around the world, but the true death toll is likely higher, the UN&#39;s migration agency reported Thursday. The figure was down on 2024 when almost 9,200 deaths were recorded, but the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said numbers nonetheless reflected the &quot;global scale&quot; of the crisis faced by migrants. &quot;The continued loss of life on migration routes is a global failure we cannot accept as normal,&quot; said IOM Director General Amy Pope. She argued for safer legal routes, adding: &nbsp;&quot;These deaths are not inevitable.&quot; Funding cuts for aid groups, crackdowns on humanitarian NGOs and limited access to data are making it more difficult to accurately track deaths, the UN agency said. Sea crossings such as the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe remain among the deadliest routes for migrants, the report said. At least 2,108 people went missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean in 2025, and another 1,047 died or vanished while trying to cross to Spain&#39;s Canary Islands, according to IOM. The actual figures are &quot;likely higher&quot;, it said. The first two months of 2026 have already seen &quot;an unprecedented number of migrant deaths&quot; in the Mediterranean, the agency warned, with 606 people recorded dead on the crossing as of Tuesday -- even as arrivals in Italy decline sharply. &quot;There are reports of hundreds more missing at sea that cannot yet be verified,&quot; IOM said. The organization said the remains of 23 people had been washed up on southern Italian and Libyan coasts in the past two weeks. Globally, the decline in the number of dead and missing last year was partly due to fewer people attempting dangerous migration routes, particularly in the Americas, according to the agency. Lower numbers were trying to get through the US-Mexico border or cross the Darien jungle between Colombia and Panama, the organization said. The IOM recorded the fewest deaths &ndash; 409 &ndash; since the reports began in 2014 in the Americas last year, although final numbers will come later in the year.

Migrants including children picked up at sea while attempting to cross the English Channel, are escorted off a National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Lifeboat upon arrival in Ramsgate, southeast England, on February 25, 2026. (AFP)

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The figure was down on 2024 when almost 9,200 deaths were recorded, but the International Organization for Migration said numbers nonetheless reflected the "global scale" of the crisis faced by migrants.

Nearly 8,000 died or vanished on migrant routes in 2025: UN 

LONDON: Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe apologized Thursday for his &quot;choice of language&quot; after saying the &quot;UK has been colonized by immigrants.&quot; The billionaire businessman, founder and chairman of the Ineos chemicals company, made the remarks in a television interview in which he suggested &quot;huge levels of immigration&quot; to the UK had harmed the economy. But following calls for Ratcliffe to apologize, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the 73-year-old said, &quot;I am sorry that my choice of language has offended some people in the UK and Europe and caused concern, but it is important to raise the issue of controlled and well-managed immigration that supports economic growth. &quot;My comments were made while answering questions about UK policy at the European Industry Summit in Antwerp, where I was discussing the importance of economic growth, jobs, skills, and manufacturing in the UK.&quot; He added, &quot;My intention was to stress that governments must manage migration alongside investment in skills, industry, and jobs so that long-term prosperity is shared by everyone. &quot;It is critical that we maintain an open debate on the challenges facing the UK.&quot; Inflammatory and divisive&nbsp;A spokesman for Starmer reacted by saying, &quot;The Prime Minister asked for an apology, and one&#39;s been issued, and it&#39;s absolutely right that Jim Ratcliffe has apologized for that language.&quot; Pressed on whether Ratcliffe&#39;s apology went far enough, the spokesman said, &quot;It&#39;s for Mr Ratcliffe to speak to his apology ... It&#39;s not for me.&quot; He added, &quot;We are, of course, of the view that there should be a serious debate about immigration, but the Prime Minister believes in a Britain built for all, and that those comments were inflammatory and divisive.&quot; Ratcliffe told Sky News on Wednesday, &quot;You can&#39;t have an economy with nine million people on benefits and huge levels of immigrants coming in. I mean, the UK is being colonized. It&#39;s costing too much money. The UK has been colonized by immigrants.&quot; Ratcliffe&#39;s comments could lead to a possible disciplinary charge of &quot;bringing the game into disrepute&quot; by England&#39;s governing Football Association. During his Sky interview, Ratcliffe, who said his &quot;unpopular&quot; decisions at Old Trafford were now bearing fruit, cited erroneous statistics, claiming the UK population was 58 million in 2020 and &quot;now it&#39;s 70 million.&quot; Population estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the country&#39;s population was 67 million in mid-2020 and just under 70 million in mid-2024. Hours later, Starmer urged Ratcliffe to apologize for the &quot;offensive and wrong&quot; comments, with Kick It Out, a UK-based body seeking to counter racism in football, reacting strongly to the &quot;disgraceful and deeply divisive&quot; remarks on Thursday. &quot;In addition to the inaccurate figures mentioned, it&#39;s worth reminding him that Manchester United has a diverse fan base and plays in a city whose cultural history has been enriched by immigrants,&quot; Kick It Out said in a statement. &quot;This type of language and leadership has no place in English football, and we believe most fans will feel the same.&quot; Several United supporters&#39; groups did indeed criticize the comments, while the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said that while calling for immigration curbs was &quot;one thing,&quot; portraying those who arrived in Britain &quot;as a hostile invading force is quite another.&quot;

British INEOS Group chairman Jim Ratcliffe poses upon his arrival for the 73rd edition of the Red Cross Gala at the Casino in Monte Carlo on July 18, 2022. Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe apologised on February 12, 2026 for his "choice of languag

The condemnation comes hours after Ratcliffe made the remarks in a television interview in which he suggested 'huge levels of immigration' to the UK had harmed the economy.

Articles tagged with "immigrants"

Nearly 8,000 died or vanished on migrant routes in 2025: UN

Man Utd's Ratcliffe apologizes for 'language' on immigration