Falcon powers – At least 39 people died when a boat carrying 260 migrants sank off the coast of Yemen on Monday, the UN migration agency said.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said 150 people were still missing following the incident and that it is providing aid to 71 survivors.
The agency did not specify the migrants’ nationalities.
The UN said 97,000 migrants travelled from the Horn of Africa to Yemen last year.
The majority of Yemen’s East African migrants first arrive in Djibouti before being packed into small boats by a network of people smugglers. In recent years, many have drowned trying to make the crossing, with human rights groups accusing smugglers of throwing people overboard.
In April, two boats sank off the coast of Djibouti two weeks apart, leaving dozens dead.
The IOM at the time said it had recorded a total of 1,350 deaths on the migration route from 2014 to 2023.
Last year alone, it said it documented at least 698 deaths on the route, including 105 lost at sea.
Those migrants who successfully reach Yemen often encounter further threats to their safety. The Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country has been mired in civil war for a decade.
Many are trying to reach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries where they can work as labourers or domestic workers.
