Tragedy at Sea: Migrant Boat Sinks Off Yemen's Coast

A boat carrying 25 Ethiopian migrants sank off Yemen's coast, leaving more than two dozen dead or missing. Despite Yemen's ongoing civil war, it remains a key transit route for East African migrants headed to Gulf countries. The International Organisation for Migration highlighted the increasing dangers and rising migrant numbers in the region.

A boat carrying migrants sank off Yemen's coast, resulting in the death or disappearance of over two dozen individuals, as reported by the UN migration agency on Sunday. This incident adds to a series of tragic shipwrecks claiming numerous lives.

Despite a protracted civil war, Yemen—bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman—continues to serve as a primary route for East African migrants aiming for affluent Gulf nations. The ill-fated vessel carried 25 Ethiopian migrants, along with its Yemeni captain and assistant, and capsized off Taiz province on Tuesday, said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The bodies of 11 men and two women were recovered at Bab el-Mandeb Strait, while 14 individuals, including the Yemeni crew, remain missing. The migrants had set sail from Djibouti.

Matt Huber, IOM's acting chief in Yemen, emphasized, "This latest tragedy is a stark reminder of the perils faced by migrants on this route. Every life lost in these dangerous waters is one too many, and it is imperative that we do not normalize these devastating losses."

Significantly, the number of migrants arriving in Yemen surged from 27,000 in 2021 to over 97,200 last year. Currently, around 380,000 migrants reside in the conflict-ridden nation, with many enduring perilous boat journeys from Djibouti across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. Over the past decade, the IOM recorded at least 2,082 migrant disappearances along this route, including 693 drownings.

In a related incident in June, at least 49 migrants died, and 140 others went missing in a shipwreck off Yemen's southern coast. Furthermore, 62 migrants perished in two separate shipwrecks off Djibouti in April while attempting to reach Yemen.

(With inputs from agencies.)