According to the Bureau, the decline was from 4,937 recorded in 2018 to 3,336 last year out of which the number recorded in Africa also slipped to 749 from 1,600 registered in the previous year.

Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI) Richard Owusu-Brinfour, a member of the Bureau, disclosed these during a sensitisation outreach on irregular migration in Hohoe in the Volta Region last week.

The programme which sought to educate the youth on the dangers of irregular migration , formed part of the GIS’ effort to reduce irregular migration and curb human smuggling and trafficking.

According to ASI Owusu-Brinfour, the figure for 2019 was the fifth year of International Organisation for Migration’s (IOM) effort to systematically record deaths on migration routes worldwide through its Missing Migrants project.

Expressing worry about migrant deaths, he admonished the youth to travel right and safe and recounted chilling stories of how migrants were molested and abused.

He noted that the country lost a significant number of resourceful youth to irregular migration, saying, “This has undesirable implications on our economy.”

“The menace is fuelled by dubious persons who have made illegal migration of desperate people a profitable business,” he said, and asked the citizenry to be wary of juicy job offers abroad.