Boats float near the coast of Bab el-Mandeb, (Representative image: Reuters).
At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, have died after a Yemen-headed boat carrying over 300 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti in East Africa, the International Organisation for Migration said on Sunday. The boat was travelling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized during the night of October 8-9, according to the IOM, which cited survivor accounts. The fatalities included 52 men, 42 women and 15 children. More than 80 people survived the shipwreck, all of them Ethiopian nationals, Reuters reported, citing a source. At least 116 others remain missing. More than 2,00,000 people have been displaced across Yemen since early August, marking the highest level of new displacement since the 2022 truce, according to Yahya. Nearly 4,000 others have crossed the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to seek safety in Djibouti and Somalia, he said.
Many displaced families had exhausted their savings, lost their livelihoods and had few options for finding safety, he added.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” said Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti. Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel through Djibouti and cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait towards Gulf countries in search of safety and economic opportunities, the IOM said. The tragedy comes as Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has “sharply worsened” amid renewed fighting that has displaced more than 200,000 people since early August, according to the United Nations. Further inaction will cost lives,” Yahya said. He said escalating fighting over the past two months had forced families already exhausted by more than a decade of conflict to flee their homes.
The incident occurred near Guhere, north of Obock, a port town in Djibouti. “This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities. The movement has continued despite the violence in Yemen. Mohamed Yahya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, delivered the warning during a UN Security Council briefing. You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.
“Today, I must warn the Council that Yemen’s humanitarian crisis has sharply worsened.