The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has revealed a data that tells there were at least 3,174 deaths on migratory routes across the world this year, compared to 5,327 in 2019. IOM released a statement on Friday, that said despite the raging coronavirus pandemic and the related travel restrictions, tens of thousands of people continued to leave their homes and embark on dangerous journeys across deserts and seas, reports an international news agency. 

The IOM report said, while the overall number of people known to have lost their lives in 2020 was lower than previous years, some routes had seen an increase in fatalities. The report further added that at least 593 people had died en route to Spain's Canary Islands, compared to 210 recorded in 2019 and 45 in 2018. 

Paul Dillon, the spokesperson for IOM, said while addressing a press briefing on Friday said, "The decrease in recorded migrant deaths was not necessarily an indication that the number of lives lost had truly dropped in 2020 as Covid-19 also challenged the ability both to collate data on deaths during migration and monitor specific routes". The latest UN figures said the number of migrants globally reached an estimated 272 million in 2019, 51 million more than in 2010. 

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