MNN (Web-Desk); At least 68 African refugees and migrants have lost their lives, and 74 remain missing after an overcrowded boat capsized off Yemen’s southern coast, the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed on Sunday.
According to Abdusattor Esoev, IOM’s chief in Yemen, the ill-fated vessel was carrying 154 Ethiopian nationals when it overturned near the Abyan province. Only 12 people were rescued alive from the wreck. The bodies of 54 victims were recovered on the shores of Khanfar district, while 14 others were found at a separate location and moved to a local hospital morgue.
Local health officials had earlier reported 54 fatalities. Abdul Qader Bajamil, the director of the health office in Zanzibar (Yemen), said arrangements were being made for a mass burial near the city of Shaqra. Rescue operations were still underway, though hampered by challenging conditions at sea.
The maritime corridor between Yemen and the Horn of Africa is among the most frequently used—and dangerous—migration routes in the world. Thousands of Africans, especially from Somalia and Ethiopia, continue to risk the treacherous journey either to seek refuge in war-torn Yemen or to use it as a transit point toward the wealthier Gulf nations.
Despite a 2022 truce between Houthi rebels and government forces that has somewhat reduced violence and improved the humanitarian situation in Yemen, the migration flow remains high. Many continue to board overloaded, unsafe boats run by human smugglers across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.
According to the IOM, over 60,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Yemen in 2024 so far, a sharp decline from the 97,200 arrivals recorded in 2023. The decrease is attributed to stricter maritime patrols, the agency noted in its May report.
The route has claimed hundreds of lives. In 2023 alone, 558 migrants died during the journey, and over the past decade, at least 2,082 have gone missing—693 of whom are confirmed to have drowned.
Currently, Yemen hosts approximately 380,000 refugees and migrants, most of whom live in extremely precarious conditions.
