At least 56 irregular migrants died and 132 remain missing after a boat carrying about 200 people capsized off the coast of southern Yemen’s Abyan province, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
Among the victims were 14 women, with many of the dead believed to be Ethiopian nationals. The IOM said only 12 survivors, all men, have been rescued.
Although Ethiopia has been relatively stable since the war in the country’s Tigray region ended in 2022, youth unemployment is currently at over 20 percent, leading many to risk dangerous waters trying to reach the wealthy Gulf Arab countries, seeking a better life elsewhere.
“They are pushed to head to a war-torn nation like Yemen and onward to Saudi Arabia or Europe,” Teklemichael Ab Sahlemariam, a human rights lawyer practising in Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa told AP. “I know of many who have perished.”
While the largest number of people attempting to reach Saudi Arabia through Yemen are Ethiopians, large numbers of Sudanese and Somalis also attempt the journey, according to the IOM.
Why is the Eastern Route so dangerous?
Irregular migrants departing from Ethiopia are known to cross the desert by foot into Djibouti or Somalia and pay smugglers around $300 for a boat to Yemen.
The voyage is not long but last year more than 500 people were recorded as drowning after boats capsized or sank, IOM reported.
Inside Yemen, they leave the area controlled by the internationally recognised government and go north into areas held by the Houthis - an Iran-aligned group that seized the capital in 2014.
The country is awash with weapons and local or tribal writ often supersedes rule by either side's government. Migrants have reported sexual assaults, forced labour and extortion while crossing Yemen.
And many of those who get caught and are sent back to Ethiopia try and make the crossing again.
“People keep going back, even when they are deported, facing financial extortion and subjected to sexual exploitation,” Sahlemariam says.
How has the UN responded?
Describing the August 3 sinking as a “heartbreaking incident,” the UN agency stressed the urgent need to address the dangers of irregular migration along the Eastern Route, which links the Horn of Africa to Yemen.
It urged stronger international and regional cooperation to expand safe and regular migration pathways, enhance coordinated search and rescue operations, protect survivors, and support their safe return and reintegration in their home countries.
“We commend the local authorities for their swift response and reiterate our commitment to supporting ongoing inter-agency efforts to identify and assist survivors, recover bodies, and provide support to affected families,” the IOM said in a statement.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry in a statement on Monday urged Ethiopians “to use legal avenues in securing opportunities.”
“We warn citizens not to take the illegal route in finding such opportunities and avoid the services of traffickers at all cost,” the statement said.
How widespread is the migration crisis?
Earlier, Yemeni officials had confirmed that dozens of bodies were recovered and buried, while many others remained unaccounted for after the vessel overturned due to bad weather conditions.
Yemen is a common destination for hundreds of irregular migrants from the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia, who undertake this perilous journey in hopes of reaching Gulf countries to seek better living conditions.
About 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen last year, down from 97,200 in 2023 — a drop that has been attributed to greater patrolling of the waters, according to a March report by the UN’s migration agency, the International Organization for Migration.
Since the beginning of 2025, the IOM has recorded more than 350 migrant deaths and disappearances along the Eastern Route, though the real number is believed to be significantly higher.
