more than 50 dead while the ships take care of

On Sunday, more than 50 migrants died when a boat carrying around 150 people sank off the coast of Yemen.

The ship capsized the southern province of Abyan Yemen, with only 10 people saved and dozens disappeared, according to local authorities.

Many victims would be Ethiopian nationals, said the International Migration Organization (IOM), which qualified the “tearing” incident.

Yemen remains a major path for migrants from the Horn of Africa going to the Arab States of the Gulf in search of work, the IOM believing that hundreds have died or disappeared in the shipwreck in recent months.

OIM Yemen chief Abdusattor Esoev told the Associated Press that the bodies of 54 migrants had been discovered on the ground in the southern district of Khanfar, and 14 others were taken to a morgue at the hospital in the provincial capital of Abyan Zinjibar.

The Abyan security department has published a declaration on the major research and rescue mission in progress and said that many corpses had been found in a large shore area, according to the Associated Press.

A spokesperson for the IOM said that the agency was “deeply saddened” by the “tragic loss of life” and stressed the need for more guarantees for migrants.

“This heartbreaking incident highlights the urgent need for improved protective mechanisms for migrants entering perilous journeys, often facilitated by unscrupulous smugglers who exploit despair and vulnerability,” they said.

The OIM previously described the trip from the Horn of Africa to Yemen as “one of the most occupied and perilous mixed migration paths”.

In March, two boats carrying more than 180 migrants sank off the coast of the Dhubab district of Yemen due to agitated seas, with only two rescued crew members and all the remaining passengers disappeared and feared the dead.

Migrants arriving at migrants’ response points in Yemen also pointed out that people who have become increasingly reckless by knowingly sending boats in dangerous conditions to avoid patrols, according to an IOM report.

Despite the risks, many migrants continue to travel, with more than 60,000 arrivals in Yemen in 2024 only.

In the past decade, the IOM missing migrant project recorded more than 3,400 dead and disappeared people along the route – 1,400 of these deaths were due to drowning.