Migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti leaving 16 people dead

At least 16 people are dead and 28 missing in a migrant boat disaster off the coast of the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, the United Nation’s migration agency said on Tuesday.

It was the second fatal maritime accident on the perilous so-called Eastern Migration Route from Africa to the Middle East in as many weeks. A vessel carrying mainly Ethiopian migrants sank in the same area off the Djibouti coast on 8 April, claiming the lives of several dozen people.

“Tragedy as boat capsizes off Djibouti coast with 77 migrants on board including children,” the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said in a post on X. “At least 28 missing. 16 dead.”

Yvonne Ndege, a spokeswoman for the agency, said the 16 fatalities included children and a baby, without giving further details.

Ethiopia’s ambassador to Djibouti, Berhanu Tsegaye, said on X that the vessel was carrying Ethiopian migrants from Yemen and that the accident occurred on Monday night off Godoria in northeastern Djibouti. He said 33 people, including one woman, survived.

“I reiterate that legal measures should be taken against illegal human smugglers who put the lives of our citizens at risk,” Berhanu said.

Another vessel carrying more than 60 people sank off the coast of Godoria on 8 April, according to the IOM and the Ethiopian embassy in Djibouti. The IOM said at the time that the bodies of 38 migrants, including children, were recovered, while six people were missing.

The Ethiopian embassy said the boat was carrying Ethiopian migrants from Djibouti to war-torn Yemen.

Each year, many tens of thousands of African migrants brave the “Eastern Route” across the Red Sea and through Yemen to try to reach oil-rich Saudi Arabia, escaping conflict or natural disaster, or seeking better economic opportunities.

“On their journeys, many face lifethreatening dangers including starvation, health risks and exploitation at the hands of human traffickers and other criminals,” the IOM said in February.

In November, a shipwreck off the shores of Yemen left 64 migrants missing, presumed dead, it said.

Ndege said the IOM’S data from last year showed “the number of people trying to cross is on the rise”.

Ethiopians made up 79% of the about 100 000 migrants who arrived in Yemen last year from Djibouti or Somalia, the remainder being Somalis.

Ethiopia is blighted by various conflicts and several regions have suffered from severe drought in recent years. More than 15% of its 120 million inhabitants depend on food aid.

In February, the IOM said according to its Missing Migrants Project at least 698 people had died crossing the Gulf of Aden from Djibouti to Yemen last year. —