At least 109 people, including 15 children, have died after a migrant boat capsized off Djibouti, the United Nations migration agency said in a statement on Sunday. More than 116 others are still missing.
The International Organization for Migration said survivors placed the disaster near Guhere, on Djibouti’s eastern coast facing the Gulf of Aden and the Bab al-Mandeb strait. They said it unfolded between Thursday night and the hours before dawn on Friday. The vessel was bound for Yemen with more than 300 people aboard.
Survivors, rescue work and the agency’s response
More than 80 passengers, all Ethiopian nationals, survived the sinking, while Djiboutian search and rescue teams kept working at the site. The agency said its staff were on the ground alongside local authorities to deliver emergency help.
Alexandre Coissac, the IOM’s chief of mission in Djibouti, described the loss of life as devastating. He said the tragedy showed the dangers migrants face on this corridor as they look for economic opportunities.
A dangerous crossing under growing regional strain
The Bab al-Mandeb strait narrows to just 20km between Djibouti and Yemen at its tightest points, yet it remains a popular and hazardous crossing for thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa. Many make the journey seeking work and safety in Gulf countries, despite rising instability linked to the US-Israel war on Iran and renewed fighting in Yemen last month between government forces and Houthi fighters.
The IOM said it has recorded more than 20,000 arrivals into Djibouti from Ethiopia since September 10. Last year, over half a million people tried to move along this route into Yemen, and at least 900 died or are missing, according to the agency. Djibouti is also receiving several thousand people fleeing Yemen because of the renewed conflict.
