The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN's migration agency, reported on Tuesday that approximately 7,900 people died or went missing on global migration routes in 2025, pushing the cumulative toll since 2014 past 80,000. The agency attributed the continued loss of life to a lack of safe, legal pathways forcing migrants onto perilous irregular routes, compounded in 2025 by unprecedented aid cuts and restricted information about dangerous crossings. The IOM is calling on governments to exercise greater political will ahead of the May 2026 International Migration Review Forum, noting that around 340,000 family members are estimated to be living with the unresolved disappearance of a relative.