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17 October 2024 - Migrant smuggling increased significantly in 2023 compared to 2022 along the Central Mediterranean route, according to a new update from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The total financial value of migrant smuggling by sea on this route is estimated to be between US$290 and $370 million.

In the update from its Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants, UNODC calculates that 254,000 people departed from the North African coast on this route in 2023, 79 per cent more than in 2022. A majority of the people using the Central Mediterranean route – between 175,000 and 228,000 people in 2023 – are smuggled, UNODC estimates.

151,000 people who departed North Africa (Tunisia, Libya and Algeria) for Southern Europe on this route actually arrived in Italy or Malta. North African coastguards intercepted a further 102,000 people, while another 1,800 people died or went missing.

Many estimations of people smuggled on a certain route use the number of people arriving at destination as the basis to estimate the total number of people smuggled. However, not all migrants and refugees who use smuggling services arrive at their destinations, meaning the total number of smuggling offences committed may be much higher – especially on sea routes.

This new analysis from UNODC considers the proportion of people smuggled among the total number of people departing from North Africa by sea, instead of among the people arriving in Southern Europe.

The actual number of people smuggled along this route may be higher than captured by this update, which only includes recorded arrivals, interceptions and dead or missing, according to national authorities and international organizations.

Preliminary data for 2024 indicates that the incidence of smuggling along the Central Mediterranean route has dropped significantly compared to 2023.

Further information

For more details on smuggling of migrants along the Central Mediterranean route, read the full update here.

Check out all the analysis and studies by the UNODC Observatory on Smuggling of Migrants here.

United Nations

UNODC ROMENA

Migrant smuggling along Central Mediterranean route worth between US$290 and $370 million in 2023, according to update from UNODC

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United Nations

UNODC ROMENA

Migrant smuggling along Central Mediterranean route worth between US$290 and $370 million in 2023, according to update from UNODC

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