7 Ethiopian migrants die on boat to Yemen
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the boat, carrying 250 people -- among them 82 children -- from Somalia to Yemen, arrived on Tuesday after a gruelling week-long journey.
"The boat is reported to have experienced engine failure 100 nautical miles into its journey," the IOM said in a statement.
"What should have been a 24-hour journey took a week, relying on wind and paddling," it added.
"Seven of the migrants died of hunger and thirst en route."
It comes just days after a shipwreck off Yemen that killed more than 90 migrants, most of them Ethiopians.
Days afterwards, Ethiopian officials urged the country's citizens to "avoid irregular routes".
The Red Sea is among the deadliest routes for migrants in the world, claiming at least 558 lives in 2024, according to the IOM.
Many flee poverty and conflict in Ethiopia in search of opportunities in wealthy Gulf countries, using war-torn Yemen as a transit point.
Wednesday's group was met by an IOM medical team in Yemen. Some were transferred to a health clinic and later discharged in a stable condition.
"These people have been through a week of hell on the high seas. They have been exploited, terrified and traumatised," said Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM's chief of mission in Yemen.
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Yemen Online
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- Yemen Online
Despite dangers, migrant flow persists between Horn of Africa and Yemen
According to the International Organization of Migration, the route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen is one of the busiest – and deadliest – in the world. Hoping to find work in the oil-rich Gulf states, thousands of Africans, many from Ethiopia, risk their lives on perilous sea journeys. But despite the high number of deaths each year, the route garners less media attention than other migratory flows. Thousands of Africans travel from Djibouti to Yemen across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden every year, hoping to reach Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia to work as labourers or domestic workers. The Eastern route is one of the world's most dangerous, according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), which documented at least 558 deaths in 2024, including 462 from shipwrecks. Overall, the United Nations agency estimates that 3,400 people have died using this route over the past 10 years. On Sunday a boat carrying nearly 200 people sank off the Yemeni coast, killing more than 90 of them, with some still missing. Ethiopia's permanent mission in Geneva responded by urging its citizens to "avoid irregular routes". The IOM said that it was "working with partners to mobilise resources and deliver humanitarian assistance to protect people on the move, as well as to support the government to respond to migration crisis". In March, at least 180 people were reported missing off the Yemeni coast, the majority of them from Ethiopia. Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM's head of mission in Yemen, told RFI that: "A network of cross-border smugglers exploits the desperation of people who need better jobs and better opportunities." Lack of interest The IOM estimates that 60,000 people landed in Yemen in 2024 alone. Marina de Regt, an anthropologist at the Free University of Amsterdam who specialises in migration in this region, agrees that "the numbers are enormous". "In many cases, migrants pay and don't even know they have to cross the sea and then go through Yemen before arriving in Saudi Arabia," she said. She is concerned about the lack of interest shown by the international community in this busy and dangerous migratory route. "These migrations between countries in the South are not considered important by political decision-makers, particularly in Europe. All that matters to [them] is that the migrants do not end up on [their] territory." She explains why Ethiopians represent the highest number of people trying to reach the Persian Gulf countries, saying: "Ethiopia is going through a very difficult time. The Tigray War (2020-2022) is over, but instability persists and there is a lot of poverty." Caught in conflict Crossing the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden in rickety boats isn't the only danger for migrants making the journey. In Yemen, a country gripped by civil war, they face an increased risk of violence. "In addition to the war situation, which results in a lack of food and great insecurity, the exploitation of migrants and refugees is common," said de Regt. "People are sometimes kidnapped by gangs and migrant women are sexually exploited by criminals." Last April, East African migrants also found themselves caught up in the military escalation between the United States and Houthi rebels in Yemen. Sixty-eight people were killed and dozens more injured in US strikes on a migrant detention centre in Sanaa, a rebel stronghold. In 2023, the NGO Human Rights Watch revealed that Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, between March 2022 and June 2023. "The guards at the checkpoints shoot randomly at migrants trying to cross. Crossing the Saudi border is a very risky undertaking," said de Regt. While some manage to find work in Saudi Arabia, many migrants remain in a precarious situation, at risk of arrest and deportation. "Sometimes men are deported to Ethiopia – but they start again, even though they know how risky the journey is," she said. "They will start again because they are desperate."
Yemen Online
07-08-2025
- Yemen Online
7 Ethiopian migrants die on boat to Yemen
Seven Ethiopian migrants died of hunger and thirst after their boat's engine failed in the Red Sea, the United Nations migration agency said Wednesday. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the boat, carrying 250 people -- among them 82 children -- from Somalia to Yemen, arrived on Tuesday after a gruelling week-long journey. "The boat is reported to have experienced engine failure 100 nautical miles into its journey," the IOM said in a statement. "What should have been a 24-hour journey took a week, relying on wind and paddling," it added. "Seven of the migrants died of hunger and thirst en route." It comes just days after a shipwreck off Yemen that killed more than 90 migrants, most of them Ethiopians. Days afterwards, Ethiopian officials urged the country's citizens to "avoid irregular routes". The Red Sea is among the deadliest routes for migrants in the world, claiming at least 558 lives in 2024, according to the IOM. Many flee poverty and conflict in Ethiopia in search of opportunities in wealthy Gulf countries, using war-torn Yemen as a transit point. Wednesday's group was met by an IOM medical team in Yemen. Some were transferred to a health clinic and later discharged in a stable condition. "These people have been through a week of hell on the high seas. They have been exploited, terrified and traumatised," said Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM's chief of mission in Yemen.
Yemen Online
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- Yemen Online
Ethiopians told to ‘avoid irregular routes' after Yemen disaster
Ethiopia on Tuesday asked citizens to 'avoid irregular routes,' two days after a boat carrying mostly Ethiopian migrants sank off Yemen, killing at least 76 and leaving dozens missing. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said 157 people were on board when the vessel sank on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden. It was headed for the Abyan governorate in southern Yemen, a popular destination for boats smuggling Africans hoping to reach wealthy Gulf states. 'Ethiopia mourns the tragic loss of 60+ (plus) citizens in a maritime disaster off Yemen's coast,' Ethiopia's permanent mission in Geneva wrote on X adding that authorities in Addis Ababa are 'working with partners to investigate and urges citizens to avoid irregular routes.' Thousands of Africans travel from Djibouti to Yemen across the Red Sea, hoping to reach oil-rich Gulf states to work as laborers or domestic workers. Many are from Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, which was ravaged by war between 2020 and 2022. The Red Sea migrant route is one of the world's most dangerous, according to IOM, which documented at least 558 deaths last year.
