Migrant shipwreck off Yemen, 68 dead and dozens missing

At least 68 people have died and dozens more are still missing after a boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Yemen, according to a report released Monday, August 4, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Abdusattor Esoev, IOM's head of mission in Yemen, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that " only 12 of the 157 passengers were rescued."

A previous report, from security sources in the southern province of Abyan, had reported on Sunday at least 27 dead in the sinking of the boat which was heading towards the southern coast of Yemen, where "smugglers' boats arrive regularly" .

The boat was carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants, according to the Abyan governorate's security directorate, which announced on Sunday "a vast operation to recover the bodies of a large number" of people who had drowned.

In the past month, at least eight people have died and 22 are missing after smugglers forced migrants into the Red Sea, according to the UN migration agency.

Despite the conflict that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, irregular migration continues through this poor country on the Arabian Peninsula, particularly from Ethiopia, itself shaken by ethnic violence. Each year, thousands of African migrants take the "eastern route," crossing the Red Sea from Djibouti to Yemen, hoping to then reach the oil-rich Gulf states.

According to the IOM, "tens of thousands of people have been stranded in Yemen, suffering abuse and exploitation during their journey." Last year, the IOM recorded at least 558 deaths on this route, including 462 due to shipwrecks.