By Deutsche Welle
26 Jul 2024, 01:57 AM EDT
A boat carrying at least 45 refugees sank off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday evening, July 24, and only four survivors have been found, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said. The boat capsized due to strong winds and overloading.
“This highlights how dangerous travel between Yemen and Africa is,” the agency said on social media. It also said it was working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to help survivors and provide them with protection.
Helping survivors
UNHCR said it was working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and its partners to assist survivors and “address protection needs.”
In June, at least 49 migrants died and 140 went missing after their boat, which had left Somalia with 260 migrants, capsized off the Yemeni coast.
IOM has recorded 1,860 deaths and disappearances along the route from East Africa and the Horn of Africa to the Persian Gulf countries since 2014.
According to the UN, 97,000 migrants arrived in Yemen last year from the Horn of Africa.
It is a busy route
The waterways between Yemen and the Horn of Africa have become a routine route for refugees and migrants travelling in both directions.
The area has seen a surge in the number of Yemenis fleeing the country. Meanwhile, some of those fleeing conflicts in Africa, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia, have sought refuge in Yemen or attempted to travel through the country to the more prosperous Gulf countries.
The route remains one of the busiest and most dangerous in the world, according to the IOM.
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