8 Migrants Dead, 12 Missing off Djibouti Coast: IOM

A spokeswoman for the International Organisation of Migration told AFP Sunday that eight migrants died and 12 were missing after smugglers pushed them off a ship near Djibouti.

Because of the Covid-19 border closures, the migrants were all thought to be Ethiopians returning to the Horn of Africa after failing to enter Saudi Arabia via Yemen, reports AFP.

“At least 8 migrants have died and 12 are missing at sea after being forced off a boat by smugglers off the coast of Djibouti, Horn of Africa,” IOM spokeswoman Yvonne Ndege said.

“According to eyewitness survivors, assisted by IOM, three smugglers violently forced the young men and women off the vessel while still at sea.

“Smugglers are known to exploit migrants on this route in this way, many having to pay or their families having to pay large sums to facilitate travel.”

Ndege said there were 34 on board, and the ship was heading for the town of Obock, Djibouti 's main transit point for thousands of African migrants trying to enter the Gulf in the area.

Over the past three weeks, at least 2,000 migrants from Yemen have arrived in Djibouti, most of them seeking to return home to Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries in eastern Africa and the Horn, according to the IOM.

The United Nations agency has been providing emergency medical care, food, water, tents and counselling to the migrants.

“This tragedy is a wake up call. Hundreds of migrants are leaving Yemen everyday trying to reach Djibouti. Risking their lives, facing exploitation from people smugglers, and in this instance, very tragically, death and injury,” Ndege said.

After two vessels carrying them from Djibouti to Yemen sunk, at least 58 refugees, mainly Ethiopians, drowned in January 2019.

The Bab el-Mandeb strait that separates Djibouti from Yemen is unique in that it sees Yemeni shiploads fleeing to Africa to avoid war, migrants and refugees passing in both directions, while others travel in the opposite direction to take African migrants to the Arabian Peninsula in search of better opportunities.