The bodies of 25 migrants found off Yemen

"Fishermen found 25 bodies in the sea", near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb and Djibouti, said Jalil Ahmed Ali (illustrative image).


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Fishermen on Monday (June 14th) found at least 25 bodies of migrants who were apparently trying to reach Yemen in the hope of reaching the wealthy Gulf states, a local Yemeni official told AFP.


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 The fishermen found 25 bodies in the sea",

near the strait of Bab al-Mandeb and Djibouti, said Jalil Ahmed Ali, adding that the boat had " 

overturned two days ago and was carrying between 160 and 200 people 


The fate of other people is not known.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) confirmed to AFP the sinking of a boat in this area, adding that the exact circumstances of the accident were not clear.

The boat sank near the coast of Ras al-Ara, in the region of Lahj (south), an area nicknamed " 

the hell

 " of migrants by NGOs.

Despite the conflict ravaging Yemen, illegal migration continues from Ethiopia in particular.

We found 25 bodies (of migrants) who drowned when a boat carrying dozens of them sank towards the Yemeni coast 

," one of the fishermen told AFP.

A major road for human trafficking

The rich oil-producing countries of the Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, welcome a large foreign workforce from the Indian subcontinent or Africa.

In recent months, dozens of migrants have died in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait which separates Djibouti from Yemen, a major route for international trade, but also migration and human trafficking.

Stranded in war-torn Yemen, many migrants are also going the other way.

In April, at least 42 migrants died off Djibouti after their boat, which left Yemen, capsized, according to IOM.

The organization estimates that 32,000 migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are still stranded in the country devastated by more than six years of civil war and plunged into what the UN calls the worst ongoing humanitarian disaster in the world.


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  • Yemen

  • International Migration