49 people have died and 140 others are missing after a ship carrying refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa to Yemen sank, the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.
The ship, which sank on Monday, was carrying about 260 people, mostly from Ethiopia and Somalia, who travelled from the northern coast of Somalia to travel 320 kilometres (200 miles) across the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen.
Refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa and East Africa are increasingly braving the perilous journey to reach Saudi Arabia and other Arab states in the region via Yemen.
The IOM said in a statement on Tuesday that 71 people were rescued, eight of who were taken to hospital. At least six children and 31 women are among the dead.
In April, at least 62 people died in two shipwrecks off the coast of Djibouti while trying to reach Yemen. According to the IOM, at least 1,860 people have died or gone missing on that route, including 480 who drowned.
Despite the devastating effects of Yemen’s nearly decade-long war, which erupted after the Houthi group revolted and took control of large parts of the country, including the capital Sana’a, more refugees and migrants are choosing this route. The flow of migrants has not abated since Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
The number of migrants arriving in Yemen annually tripled between 2021 and 2023, rising from 27,000 to more than 90,000, the IOM reported last month. Some 380,000 migrants are currently in Yemen, the agency said.
The sinking of the boat on Monday “is another reminder of the need to work together to address pressing migration issues and ensure the safety of migrants along migration routes,” said IOM spokesman Mohammedali Abunajela.
