MORE migrants and refugees are heading northward through Africa towards the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, crossing perilous routes in the Sahara desert, the United Nations and partners said today.

A report by the UN refugee and migration agencies and the Mixed Migration Centre accused criminal gangs of subjecting migrants to enslavement, organ removal, rape and kidnapping, among other abuses.

Land routes in Africa are twice as deadly as the sea lanes across the Mediterranean, which is the world’s deadliest maritime route for migrants, the report estimates.

It says that new conflict and instability in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Sudan are behind a rise in the number of journeys towards the Mediterranean, although Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Guinea were the migrants’ top countries of origin.

The report comes as many politicians in Europe and beyond have fanned and drawn support from anti-immigrant sentiment in an important election year.

“Refugees and migrants are increasingly traversing areas where insurgent groups, militias and other criminal actors operate and where human trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, forced labour and sexual exploitation are rife,” the authors warn.

UN refugee agency UNHCR has cited a more than tripling of the number of refugees and asylum-seekers in Tunisia, a key transit country for migrants trying to reach Europe, between 2020 and 2023.

The report seeks to spotlight the dangers of land routes that lead to the Mediterranean, which was crossed by over 72,000 migrants and refugees in the first half of this year and where 785 people have died or gone missing over those six months, according to figures from the UN agency.

UNHCR special envoy Vincent Cochetel said: “Everyone that has crossed the Sahara can tell you of people they know who died in the desert, whereas [if] you interview people in [the Italian island of] Lampedusa, not that many people will tell you about people they know who died at sea.”

The International Organisation for Migration, another UN agency, reported earlier this year that more than 3,100 people had died on the Mediterranean crossing last year.

The report says that international action has been inadequate, pointing to "huge gaps" in protection and help for people making the perilous journey.

“In total, 1,180 persons are known to have died while crossing the Sahara desert for the period January 2020 to May 2024, but the number is believed to be much higher,” the authors add.