 IOM has recorded the deaths and disappearances of more than 32,000 migrants across the world since 2014, a number which constitutes a humanitarian crisis by any measure and demands urgent action. 2018 marked the first year since IOM began counting in 2014 to record a decrease in the number of migrant deaths and disappearances across the world. However, this decrease is largely linked to a dramatic drop in the number of people attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean route to Italy, a route which historically has claimed the lives of thousands and thousands of migrants. Despite this drop in the absolute number of deaths in the Central Mediterranean, last year we also noticed a very dramatic rise in the risks associated with this crossing. In 2017, one in every 50 people who attempted the crossing were recorded as dead compared to one in 35 in 2018. Another concerning trend in the Mediterranean, highlighted in the Fatal Journey to Report, is a dramatic, dramatic increase in the number of deaths recorded in the western Mediterranean route from Morocco to Spain. We recorded just over 200 deaths in 2017 compared to more than 800 in 2018. Both of these trends in the Mediterranean continue to this day.