The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Monday that hundreds of migrants are likely lost or have perished in the Mediterranean Sea this January as a result of boat sinkings.
In a statement, the IOM expressed its deep concern over reports of several boat sinkings, noting that poor weather conditions have severely hampered search and rescue operations.
The IOM confirmed that it is investigating these reports and expressed its fear that "hundreds of people may have been lost in the first weeks of 2026 alone."
IOM spokesperson Jorge Galindo said that three boat sinkings have been reported in the past ten days, two on January 23 and one on January 25, which are believed to have claimed the lives of 104 people.
The IOM estimates that these boats departed from the coasts of Libya and Tunisia. The spokesperson noted that the organization is investigating the disappearance of boats from Tunisia, estimating the number of missing persons at approximately 380.
Mirna Abdel Azim, a data analyst with the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project, reported that these individuals were aboard nine different boats believed to have sunk between January 14 and 21.
Abdel Azim explained that the IOM has so far been able to confirm only three deaths related to the January 23 incident.
The IOM reiterated its warning that the Central Mediterranean migration route is the most dangerous in the world, with 1,340 deaths recorded last year.
More than 33,000 migrants have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea since 2014, according to the Missing Migrants Project.
-QNA
Middle-aged man spends millions to
Dr. Dharam Raj Upadhyay: Man
Children, Greatest Victims Of Sudan’s
Breathing The Unbreathable Air
Comprehensive Data Protection Law Critically
Gender Differences In Mental Healthcare