A boat carrying 154 Ethiopians capsized off the coast of Yemen’s Abyan province, resulting in at least 68 African refugees and migrants dying. Rescuers are searching for dozens more missing, with 12 survivors reported.
The incident occurred in an area notorious for being a high-risk migration route. The UN reports that over 60,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024, marking a decline from the previous year’s total of 97,200.
Smugglers often ferry people on overcrowded boats across the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has noted that over 2,082 people have disappeared along this route in the past decade, including 693 known fatalities.
A truce deal between Houthi rebels and government forces in 2022 has led to a decrease in violence and easing of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. However, the migration route remains perilous, with hundreds killed over the past two years.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/3