Boat capsized off Yemen killing 20 Ethiopian migrants, IOM says

Twenty Ethiopian migrants were killed when their boat from Djibouti capsized off Yemen, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

The shipwreck on Saturday "claimed the lives of 20 Ethiopian migrants, including nine women and 11 men. The vessel, carrying 35 Ethiopian migrants along with a Yemeni captain and his assistant, departed from Djibouti," the UN migration body said in a statement.

It added the vessel had capsized off Yemen's southwest Taiz Governorate "amid strong seasonal winds".

Yemen's coastal waters are among the world's most dangerous migrant routes, according to the IOM, which documented more than 60,000 migrant arrivals in Yemen in 2024.

Most Ethiopian migrants travelling through Yemen are seeking to reach Gulf countries, motivated by conflict, climate change and a lack of economic prospects, the UN body said.

Migrants often "encounter exploitation, violence, and life-threatening conditions along the way", the IOM said.

Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM's chief of mission in Yemen, called Saturday's shipwreck "a grim reminder of the treacherous conditions migrants endure in their search for safety and a better life".

"Every life lost is one too many. The international community must strengthen its resolve to address the root causes of irregular migration and prioritise the protection and dignity of migrants," he added.

Since 2014, the UN agency has recorded 3,435 deaths and disappearances along the route to Yemen, including 1,416 lives lost to drowning.

Yemen has been at war since 2014, when Huthi rebels forced the internationally recognised government out of Sanaa. The Iran-backed rebels have also seized population centres in the north.