Dead and missing at the EUs sea borders

The majority of detections of irregular entries take place at the EU’s external sea borders. Unfortunately, attempts to cross the sea to enter the EU irregularly may end in tragedy. According to data from the International Organization for Migration, between 2014 and 2023 about 35 000 people lost their lives and more than 26 000 people went missing in the Mediterranean Sea (see Figure 6). By comparison, in the last decade Frontex recorded 2.7 million irregular entries at the EU’s sea borders (although the number of persons detected may be lower). This means that, in the past decade, at least 23 people disappeared at the sea for every 1 000 detections.