The UN migration agency on Tuesday called for urgent international action after ten migrant bodies were recently found washed ashore near Egypt’s Mediterranean city of Marsa Matruh.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the individuals are believed to have departed from neighbouring Libya, calling the deaths “yet another painful reminder of the high cost of irregular migration and the urgent need for coordinated international efforts to provide inclusive, safe and regular pathways for all.”

More than 32,000 people have died while crossing the Mediterranean Sea since 2014, according to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project. The actual number is likely higher, the agency said, due to the many cases of people who remain missing.

“Behind each life lost is a story: broken dreams, grieving families, and futures that will now never be realised. Our thoughts are with their loved ones,” the IOM said in a statement.

Humane and dignified response

The agency praised Egyptian authorities for what it called a humane and dignified response, saying that they applied the “highest standards of International Humanitarian Law.”

The IOM reiterated its call for global cooperation to tackle the root causes of irregular migration: “We renew our call for collective action to address the root causes of irregular migration and protect the lives of those on the move.”