At least 68 African migrants drowned and 74 remain missing after a boat carrying 154 Ethiopian nationals capsized off Yemen’s southern coast on Sunday, the UN migration agency said.
The head of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Yemen, Abdusattor Esoev, told an international media agency that the vessel went down near Abyan province. Only 12 people survived.
Rescue teams have recovered 54 bodies from the beaches there and surrounding areas, while 12 survivors were transferred to Shaqra Hospital, Al Jazeera quoted Abdul Qader Bajamil, director of the health office in Zanzibar.
The boat was carrying approximately 150 people, mostly from Ethiopia, and capsized in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Shaqra, in the Abyan Governorate, due to strong winds on Saturday evening.
The official noted that search operations were continued amid difficult conditions, whereas the authorities were making arrangements to bury the victims in an area near the city.
Despite the war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, irregular migration via the impoverished country has continued, in particular from Ethiopia, which itself has been roiled by ethnic conflict.
Migrants cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which separates Djibouti from Yemen and is a major route for international trade headed to and from the Suez Canal, as well as for migration and human trafficking.
The wealthy Gulf monarchies, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, host significant populations of foreign workers from South Asia and Africa.
According to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration, tens of thousands of migrants have become stranded in Yemen and suffer abuse and exploitation during their journeys.
With additional input from AFP.