Dangerous Route, High Risk
Most of the people who drowned are believed to be Ethiopian nationals. The Gulf of Aden is a major route for migrants from the Horn of Africa — primarily Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea – who move in search of work elsewhere in the region.
Smugglers had taken the boat along a well-known western route this time, amid rising deaths and deportations, IOM Yemen mission chief Abdusattor Esoev said.
Adverse weather conditions were blamed for the tragedy, and a major search-and-rescue operation has been carried out by local security teams, recovering many bodies from miles of coastal areas.
Only in 2024, more than 60,000 migrants have arrived in Yemen; however, all of them lost their lives. The Missing Migrants Project of the International Organization for Migration reports that over 3,400 people have died or disappeared in the past decade along this route, including more than 1,400 drownings.
Calls for Safer Migration Routes
Esoev stressed the urgency for governments to create additional channels of legal migration and thereby reduce dependence on smugglers. " What we are saying is open up their normal ways so people can migrate legally, " he said — calling for action to stem further loss of lives.
Survivors arriving in Yemen say they were crammed into unsafe boats and deliberately set to sea so that they would be spotted by naval patrols.
The same fate had befallen ships in other tragedies earlier this year, the worst on March 17 when at least two boats went down near Dhubab with hundreds of passengers believed to have drowned.
Crisis Within a Conflict Zone
Despite more than 10 years of civil war, Yemen remains in a fragile situation. The Houthis, who control most of north-western Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and are backed by Iran, have further complicated efforts to rescue and aid children.
These unbearable conditions have not stopped thousands of others from embarking on the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean in their attempts to escape poverty, war, and persecution for a better life — simply on the other side of the sea.
