African migrants attempting to cross into Europe in a makeshift boat. Credit: AFP

At least 68 refugees and migrants have died and 74 others remain missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen, according to the United Nations migration agency. The head of the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, Abdusattor Esoev, told members of the press recently that the boat, with 154 mostly Ethiopians on board, capsized off Yemen’s province of Abyan.

Twelve people were said to have survived the shipwreck while the bodies of 54 refugees and migrants washed ashore in the district of Khanfar and 14 others were found dead at a different location and taken to a hospital morgue.

The tragedy was the latest in a series of shipwrecks off Yemen that have killed hundreds of African migrants fleeing conflict and poverty in hopes of reaching the wealthy Gulf Arab countries.

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 Gulf Arab countries for work. Migrants are taken by smugglers on often dangerous, overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or 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 were missing after four boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti.

More than 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, down from 97,200 in 2023, probably because of greater patrolling of the waters, according to Yemeni authorities in March.

In addition to being the most travelled African migration route, the Eastern Route is widely considered the most dangerous, as migrants encounter life-threatening situations and are exposed to violence, abuse, and exploitation. Yemen’s ongoing civil war has exacerbated security issues for migrants, as the governance vacuum in the country creates an ideal environment for smuggling and trafficking networks to flourish.

Yemen is in the midst of a decade-long internal conflict that has seen the country carved up among several factions, notably Iran-backed Houthi rebels who seized control from the internationally recognized government, which in turn was, and continues to be, backed by a Saudi-led, U.S.-backed military coalition trying to restore it to power.

The fighting triggered one of the worst of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with almost 20 million people in need of food, medical and other assistance, more than half of them children, and more than 4.5 million people internally displaced, according to UNICEF.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) nearly 11,000 people have died or gone missing from 2024 till date over attempts to migrate in search of greener pastures.