More than 140 migrants believed dead as boat capsizes off Yemen

Source: The Guardian

A boat has capsized off Yemen’s coast leaving 68 African migrants dead and 74 others missing, the UN’s migration agency said.
...
The vessel, with 154 Ethiopian migrants onboard, sank in the Gulf of Aden off the southern Yemeni province of Abyan early on Sunday, the head of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Yemen said.

Abdusattor Esoev said the bodies of 54 people washed ashore in the district of Khanfar, and 14 others were found dead and taken to a hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the provincial capital of Abyan on Yemen’s southern coast.
...
Despite more than a decade of civil war , Yemen is a major route for people from east Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach the Gulf Arab countries for work. Migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/04/african-migrants-killed-capsized-boat-shipwreck-yemen

The IOM previously described the journey from the Horn of Africa - composed of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea - to Yemen as "one of the busiest and most perilous mixed migration routes". For many the final destination is Saudi Arabia.

In March, two boats carrying more than 180 migrants sank off the coast of Yemen's Dhubab district due to rough seas, with only two crew members rescued.

Migrants arriving at Migrant Response Points in Yemen have also reported people-smugglers becoming more reckless by knowingly sending boats into dangerous conditions to avoid patrols, according to an IOM report.

Despite the risks, many migrants continue to make the trip, with more than 60,000 arriving in Yemen in 2024 alone.

.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn84rrmlxvxo