Quarterly Mixed Migration Updates, Quarter 4 – 2024 (October-December)
This article presents the key updates on mixed migration from six regions around the world during the fourth quarter of 2024. Links to the full Quarterly Mixed Migration Updates (QMMU) per region are included below.
Asia and the Pacific | Eastern and Southern Africa | Europe | Latin America and the Caribbean | North Africa | West Africa
Asia and the Pacific
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- Afghans continue facing threats of detention and deportation: Afghans in Iran, Türkiye, and Tajikistan continued facing increasing threats of detention and deportation this quarter, as well as alleged violence at the hands of state officials.
- Worsened situation for Rohingya refugees in Rakhine, Myanmar and Cox’s Bazar Bangladesh leads to a surge in movements: The number of Rohingya embarking on maritime journeys more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2023. This quarter, six boats arrived in Indonesia and one in Sri Lanka, while another was pushed back twice by members of the local Indonesian community.
- Stricter refugee policies in India: Refugees from Myanmar face tightening measures in India. In Manipur, the state government set a deadline of December 10 for refugees to return to Myanmar, while families with children received an extension until March 2025. Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, authorities have cracked down on five landlords renting to Rohingya refugees and have cut off water and power supplies to refugee households.
- Crackdown on undocumented migrants in Malaysia and Thailand: As Malaysia’s amnesty program for undocumented migrants nears its December 31 deadline, authorities have intensified enforcement measures, with nearly 1,000 Myanmar nationals detained in December alone. Similarly in Thailand, country-wide crackdown since June 5, has resulted in 256,213 arrests as of the last quarter, including 193,430 Myanmar nationals.
- Australia’s strengthened border enforcement and anti-migration laws: Australia has intensified border enforcement in the Northern Territory, responding to irregular arrivals of four individuals on Croker Island and eight individuals in Arnhem Land. Offshore detention continues to place significant hardships on asylum seekers in Nauru and Papua New Guinea, with inadequate weekly allowances for basic needs. Additionally, new migration laws passed in November expand offshore detention, grant more power to the immigration minister, and introduce stricter detention measures, including the ability to confiscate phones.
Eastern and Southern Africa | Egypt & Yemen
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- The war in Sudan continues to fuel internal and cross-border displacement: Compared to the previous quarter, cross border movements have increased by 113% in Libya (210,000), 19% in South Sudan (954,616), 12% in Ethiopia (68,008), 11% in Chad (723,951), 8% in Uganda (61,693), and 3% in the Central African Republic (CAR) (36,183). For Egypt (1,200,000), no new figure was published during Q4.
- Increased coverage leads to new data on arrivals in Yemen: In October-November 24,399 migrants entered Yemen, marking a 466% increase from the same period in 2023. According to IOM, the increase can be largely attributed to expanded DTM coverage into the Ta’iz governate. In early October, at least 48 migrants drowned after a double shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti.
- New asylum law in Egypt: Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi signed a new asylum bill into law in December, amidst concerns from civil society groups over the impact the law will have on refugee protection, including restricting access to asylum, and giving way to arbitrary detention and unlawful deportations.
- Migrants intercepted along the Southern Route: In Q4, several groups of Ethiopians, Eritreans, Burundians, and Congolese, among other nationalities, were apprehended while en route to South Africa in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Botswana. Zambian authorities reported apprehending at least 573 individuals from October-December.
- Violence in Mozambique fuels cross-border displacement: Following escalating post-election violence in late October, at least 13,000 Mozambicans fled to Malawi, while another 1,000 claimed asylum in Eswatini.
- Two shipwrecks along the Western Indian Ocean Route to Mayotte: In Q4, a shipwreck off the Comorian coast and a double shipwreck involving boats carrying Somalis off Madagascar led to a combined death toll of at least 53, and 47 (Madagascar) and five (The Comoros) survivors rescued.
Europe
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- Less arrivals overall, though trends vary by route: While the total number of registered arrivals in Europe declined in 2024 to 199,200, down from 270,700 in 2023, much of this drop was attributable to migration along the Central Mediterranean route during 2024 being less than half (42%) that of the previous year. Movement along the Eastern Mediterranean route to Greece, on the other hand, rose by 27% during the year and increased by 16% along the Western Africa / Atlantic route to the Canary Islands.
- Cyprus finally grants entry to dozens of migrants caught in buffer zone: After months trapped at the border with the Turkish-controlled north of the island, Cypriot authorities responded to international pressure and allowed migrants into its territory.
- Greece and Cyprus attract condemnation from the European Court of Human Rights: While both countries have repeatedly been accused of pushbacks, recent rulings against Cyprus and Greece may help to ensure greater justice and accountability for other victims in future.
- An uncertain future for Italy’s Albania migrant centre amid legal challenges: The future of Italy’s offshore migrant centres in Albania has been thrown into doubt by successive legal challenges that forced the government to transfer the first groups of asylum seekers to Italy, leaving the facilities in Albania empty.
- Worsening humanitarian conditions in the Canary Islands: Local facilities have been strained by the growing number of unaccompanied minors, prompting calls for more central government support and the redistribution of underage migrants to other parts of Spain.
- Spain announces ambitious regularisation programme for undocumented migrants: The government committed in December to a major overhaul of its migration policy by regularising the status of 900,000 migrants already in the country over the next three years.
- Croatia accused of incinerating migrant belongings in “burn piles”: A new report claims that Croatian security forces have destroyed smartphones, identification papers and clothing belonging to migrants before pushing them back into Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- Evidence mounts of migrant abuses at the Poland-Belarus border: An investigation by Human Rights Watch highlighted the egregious treatment meted out to migrants on both sides of the Poland-Belarus border, including illegal pushbacks, violent beatings and property destruction.
- EU greenlights temporary suspension of asylum for states at the Eastern Border: In December the EU formally authorised countries on the Eastern Border to suspend asylum claims in contexts where migration has been “weaponised” by hostile actors.
- Cracks emerging in Europe’s solidarity towards Ukrainian refugees: While the Temporary Protection Directive remains in place, in recent months several governments (including Norway and the Slovak Republic) have rolled back some protections or threatened to withdraw financial assistance to refugees in their territory.
- Deportations now a top EU priority: New legislation in development will provide member states with greater powers to expedite deportations. The EU is also considering the creation of “return hubs” outside its territory to hold migrants before they are returned to their countries of origin.
- Uncertain prospects for Syrian refugees in Europe: Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in early December, many countries across Europe suspended asylum applications for Syrian, despite continued security concerns.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- The number of recorded arrivals in Panama from the Darien reduced significantly throughout 2024, and most significantly in the last quarter: Amid Panamanian efforts to deter migration through deportations, physical barriers, and fines, the number of recorded crossings into Panama through the Darien fell from 520,085 in 2023 to 302,203 in 2024. The decline continued in the final quarter of 2024, falling from 62,233 in the third quarter to 38,907 in the fourth quarter.
- The number of Venezuelans leaving the country appeared to decrease in the last quarter of 2024: The level of reported irregular migration to Colombia declined from an estimated 87,769 entries in the third quarter of 2024 to 71,441 in the fourth quarter, an 18.6% decrease.
- Mexican soldiers kill migrants, sparking calls for revision of policy: On October 1, Mexican soldiers fired on a convoy of migrants, resulting in six deaths and ten injuries. President Sheinbaum denounced the incident and called for an investigation, which also sparked calls for policy review with the Mexican bishops conference, for example, calling the incident a result of militarisation of immigration control.
- Violence in Haiti continues to cause mass displacement: Gangs are moving into ever more neighbourhoods, displacing more than 70,000 between October and December and adding to the estimated 700,000 that were displaced at the start of the quarter.
- Despite violence, Haitians continue to be deported:66,491 were returned in the last three months of the year alone, a 33% increase over the third quarter, according to IOM. The vast majority, more than 98%, were returned from the Dominican Republic, where President Abinader announced an operation in October to deport 10,000 per week.
- Argentina adopts decree modifying its 2006 Refugee Law, expanding grounds for exclusion and reducing opportunities for appeal: The new emergency decree in Argentina expands the grounds on which applicants can be excluded from refugee status and reduces the amount of time that they have to appeal.
North Africa
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- A 58% decrease in migrant arrivals in Italy between 2023 and 2024 coincided with a 16% increase in the number of migrants crossing the Atlantic to the Canary Islands during the same period: In 2024, Spain recorded 63,970 irregular arrivals, including 46,843 to the Canary Islands (+17%), while Italy saw 65,474 total Compared to last quarter, arrivals to Spain increased by 25% while arrivals to Italy decreased by 31%.
- In 2024, the Balearic Islands record 6,000 migrants arrivals, triple the 2,278 recorded in 2023: Most of these migrants departed from Algeria. Since August, 2,024 people have been rescued in the Balearic region, including over 700 who arrived during just four days in November. To address this, Algerian authorities established a new security unit in December to combat migrant smuggling.
- Rights advocates and UN experts criticise EU’s consideration of Tunisia as a safe disembarkation point for migrants: Despite the European Union and its member states considering Tunisia as a safe place for disembarking migrants intercepted at sea, a joint declaration by human rights and humanitarian organisations, published on 4 October, stated that Tunisia cannot be considered a “safe place” for such disembarkation.
- Return operations from Tunisia increases in 2024, with EU support: As of 16 October 2024, IOM has assisted over 5,400 migrants with voluntary return, reflecting a 111% increase compared to the 2,557 migrants returned in 2023 and a 206% increase compared to 2022.
- Morocco increases bilateral cooperation on migration management: The country signed an agreement with Spain in October on the return of Moroccan unaccompanied minors from Spain, though EU legal challenges hinder the process. Morocco and France also signed a “Reinforced Exceptional Partnership“, focusing on facilitating regular migration, combating irregular migration, and improving readmission procedures for Moroccan returnees from France.
- Morocco and the EU negotiate a new partnership agreement to address irregular migration and enhance trade relations: This new partnership agreement is akin to those signed with Egypt and Tunisia in 2023, valued at 7.4 billion euros and 1 billion euros respectively.
West Africa
Key Updates Quarter 4 – 2024
- The number of migrants crossing the Atlantic to the Canary Islands (46,524) has risen by 16% between 2023 and 2023, setting a new record for overall arrivals to Spain (63,427): Arrivals on the Western Mediterranean route remained stable with a slight decline of 1% (16,903), while West African migrants accounted for a smaller share of arrivals to Italy (65,474 total arrivals in 2024—a 58% decrease compared to 2023). Compared to last quarter, arrivals to Spain increased by 25% while arrivals to Italy decreased by 31%.
- According to the NGO Caminando Fronteras record number of 10,000 migrants died or disappeared while attempting to reach Spain by sea in 2024, including 9,757 deaths on the Atlantic Route alone: Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Missing Migrants Project (MMP) recorded 1,062 deaths or disappearances along the Atlantic route, 412 on the WMR, and 1,659 on the CMR.
- Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger maintain visa-free travel for ECOWAS nationals despite exit plans: While some ECOWAS member states advocate for reciprocity, others remain hesitant.
- West Africa becomes transit point for South and East Asian migrants seeking Canary Islands: An increased migrant presence is observed in Mauritania, for instance.
- Spain has called on Frontex to secure agreements with West African countries to patrol their territorial waters to address increasing migration to the Canary Islands: The expansion of Frontex’s activities in West Africa raises concerns that its focus on deportation over reintegration leaves returnees without adequate support to rebuild their lives.
- Senegal has intensified efforts to combat irregular migration, with financial support from the EU: On 1 October, the Senegalese government launched regional and departmental committees in efforts to decentralize strategies against irregular migration.
