UN: 68 African migrants died off the coast of Yemen

(Patria) - In the capsizing of a boat on Sunday in the waters off the coast of Yemen, 68 African migrants died, and 74 are reported missing, the United Nations migration agency (IOM) announced, AP reported.

This tragedy is the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen in which hundreds of African migrants fleeing in hopes of reaching the wealthy Arab countries of the Persian Gulf have died.

A boat with 154 Ethiopian migrants sank in the Gulf of Aden off the southern Yemeni province of Abyan early Sunday, Abdusattor Esoev, head of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, told AP.

He said the bodies of 54 migrants were washed ashore in the Khanfar district, and 14 others were found dead and transported to the hospital morgue in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province on Yemen's southern coast. Only twelve migrants survived the shipwreck, and the rest are reported missing and presumed dead, Esoev said.

In a statement, the Abyan Security Directorate described a massive search and rescue operation given the large number of dead and missing migrants. It stated that many dead bodies were found scattered across a wide area of the coast.

Despite more than a decade of civil war, Yemen is a major route for migrants from East Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf for work. Migrants are often transported by smugglers in dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden.

Hundreds of migrants have died or gone missing in shipwrecks off Yemen in recent months, including in March when two migrants died and 186 others went missing after four boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti, according to IOM data.

More than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, compared to 97,200 in 2023, likely due to increased water patrols, according to a March IOM report.