Migrant ship on African Coast   Photo: @jo_comms

Sanaa, October 3 (RHC)-- At least 45 people were tragically killed and more than 100 remain missing after being forced off the boat by smugglers off the coast of Djibouti, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) portal.

According to the international agency, 100 immigrants were travelling on the first boat, while 210 were on board the second.  All of them were returning to Djibouti from Yemen.

"Yemeni operators forced migrants to land in the open sea and swim.  A woman drowned, but her four-month-old baby survived along with 98 others who were travelling on the first boat," the IMO reported in an official statement.

However, the Djibouti Coast Guard has reported that 48 people died and 115 were rescued, while 61 people remain missing and search operations continue unabated.  It has also pointed out that the wreck occurred 150 metres from a beach near the town of Jor Angar, in the northeast of the country.

The eastern route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Persian Gulf states is among the “most dangerous” in the world, according to IOM, with a record of almost 400,000 movements by 2023.

At least 698 people died on the road, including women and children, crossing the Gulf of Aden into Yemen in the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia, according to IOM data. Migrants are taking that path by fleeing poverty, war and the ravages of the climate crisis, in search of employment and better living conditions.