Yemen Monitor/Zinjibar/Exclusive:
At least 68 African refugees and migrants have died, and 74 others are still missing, after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The head of the IOM in Yemen, Abdulsattar Eissaiwev, told the Associated Press on Sunday that the boat, which was carrying 154 Ethiopians, capsized off Yemen’s Abyan governorate.
He added that 12 people survived the sinking. The bodies of 54 refugees and migrants washed ashore in the Khanfar district, and 14 others were found dead elsewhere and taken to the hospital morgue.
Yemeni health authorities had earlier reported a death toll of 54 people.
Zinjibar’s health office director, Abdelkader Bajamil, said that authorities are making arrangements to bury the victims near the city of Shuqra, while search efforts continue under difficult conditions.
The waterways between Yemen and the Horn of Africa are a common, though dangerous, route for refugees and migrants traveling in both directions. The region has seen a sharp increase in the number of Yemenis fleeing the country after the outbreak of the civil war in 2014.
The Houthis and government forces reached a truce agreement in April 2022, which led to a decrease in violence and a slight easing of Yemen’s ongoing humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, some of those fleeing conflicts in Africa, especially in Somalia and Ethiopia, have sought refuge in or transit through Yemen to more prosperous Gulf countries. This remains one of the world’s busiest and most dangerous migration routes, according to the IOM.
To reach Yemen, smugglers transport migrants on dangerous and overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.
According to the IOM, more than 60,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, a significant decrease from the previous year’s total of 97,200.
