Europe records biggest rise in slavery due to vulnerable status
GENEVA — Smugglers forced more than 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants into rough seas off Yemen on Wednesday, leaving 29 dead and 22 missing, the International Organization for Migration said.
The agency said it had found the shallow graves of 29 migrants on a beach in the southern province of Shabwa after they had been buried by survivors.
“The smugglers deliberately pushed the migrants into the waters since they feared that they would be arrested by the authorities once they reach the shore,” said an IOM emergency officer in Aden.
Then they “simply went back to where they came from to pick more migrants and try to smuggle them into Yemen, again”.
IOM said around 55,000 migrants have left the Horn of Africa headed for Yemen since the start of the year. The journey is especially hazardous at this time of year due to strong winds in the Indian Ocean.
The officer said there were “many women and children among those who died and Juventa those who are still missing”.
The survivors told the IOM that a smuggler had pushed them to the sea after seeing people who looked like officials, said Laurent de Boeck, head of the IOM’s Yemen mission.
“They also told us that the smuggler has already returned to Somalia to continue his business and pick up more migrants to bring to Yemen on the same route,” he said.
Meanwhile, around 115,000