At least 49 dead and 140 missing in shipwreck off Yemen coast

At least 49 people have died and another 140 remain missing in the waters of the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of the Yemeni province of Shabwah, after the boat in which they were traveling with a total of 260 people on board capsized this Monday. , reported the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Search and rescue tasks are still underway, since bodies are still being found in different places. The causes of the event have not been clarified.

Among the fatalities are at least 31 women and six children in a new tragedy that shows the lack of safe routes for people who emigrate, denounced Mohammed Abunajela, spokesperson for the IOM. “This is another reminder of the urgent need to work together to address the most pressing challenges of migration and the safety of migrants along the routes,” he said.

The survivors have reported that they left the Somali beaches of Bossaso, in the Horn of Africa, around three in the morning on Sunday, and that in total there were 115 Somali citizens and 145 Ethiopians; of them, 90 were women. In recent months, there has been an increase in irregular departures of migrants from the Horn of Africa heading to Yemen, spurred by political and economic instability, as well as the serious drought affecting Ethiopia and Somalia.

The IOM has mobilized two medical teams to provide assistance to the 71 survivors, including six children. Of those rescued, eight have required medical assistance and have been taken to hospital, while the other 63 have received first aid and minor treatment, including trauma care and wound dressings in the mobile clinic there. In addition, 38 have required psychological attention. “Our thoughts are with the victims and their families, and while we are committed to caring for survivors and improving search and rescue efforts in the area,” Abunajela added.

The search and rescue efforts for those missing in the shipwreck are complicated due to the shortage of operational patrol boats, a circumstance aggravated by the civil war in Yemen. Members of the local community, mainly fishermen, are playing a “crucial role” in the body recovery efforts and are even helping to bury the deceased in the Ayn Bamaabed cemetery.

This shipwreck is the third to occur along the coast of Djibouti since April, when two other sinkings left 62 dead. Since 2014, at least 1,860 people have died or disappeared on this route between the Horn of Africa and the Gulf countries, according to the IOM.

The route from the Horn of East Africa to Yemen is one of the busiest and most dangerous in the world and those who choose it often put themselves in the hands of traffickers, who charge high amounts of money to embark on a dangerous boat journey of about 500 kilometers by sea. . Despite the armed conflict that has devastated Yemen since 2014, thousands of migrants continue to transit through this country in the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

In 2023, there were more than 97,200 migrant arrivals in this country, almost 25,000 more than the previous year, according to data from the IOM’s global forced displacement monitoring tool. Migrants, who often rely on smugglers to make the journey, are often at increased risk, including human trafficking, during the dangerous boat journey to Yemeni shores.

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