IOM Urges Action to Prevent Migrant Tragedies in the Red Sea

April 26, 2024 Hour: 1:07 pm

On Friday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called on governments and humanitarian partners to redouble their efforts to prevent deadly calamities along the Red Sea as over 1,350 migrants died in 2023 while attempting to cross the dangerous route.

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The UN migration agency made the urgent call on the backdrop of two deadly incidents within just two weeks period, resulting in the death of at least 62 migrants after boats capsized. The migrants were being transported by human smugglers.

“The occurrence of two such tragedies within a span of two weeks highlights the dangers faced by children, women, and men migrating through irregular routes, underscoring the importance of establishing safe and legal pathways for migration,” an IOM statement issued late Wednesday quoted Tanja Pacifico, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, as saying.

In both incidents, it is believed that the migrants were attempting to return from Yemen to Djibouti after failing to reach Saudi Arabia, where they hoped to find work and better opportunities.

IOM says Ethiopian Death toll in migrant boat capsize off Djibouti Coast rises to 24 pic.twitter.com/pjVJGSAzDj

— Kana TV (@KanaTelevision)
April 26, 2024

The latest accident happened on Monday night when a boat carrying at least 77 migrants capsized off the coast of Djibouti, killing at least 24 migrants while 20 others are still missing. The latest accident follows a similar tragedy in the same area reported two weeks ago, where at least 38 migrants perished, according to IOM.

Data from IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) show that in 2023, despite the life-threatening risks involved in the dangerous route, approximately 380,000 movements were documented from the Horn of Africa to countries in the Arabian Peninsula. At least 1,350 lives have been lost and many more goes unreported.

Noting that many of such risky attempts involving migrants from the Horn of Africa, in particular Ethiopia and Somalia, are often unsuccessful, IOM said thousands of migrants are currently stranded in the conflict-ravaged Yemen, where they experience “extremely harsh conditions.”

It said the dire conditions faced by African migrants stranded in the conflict-ravaged Yemen has left them with no other choice but to rely on human smugglers to return home.

Since the start of 2024, IOM’s DTM reported that a total of 3,682 migrants have departed Yemen to reach Djibouti, surpassing last year’s figure for the same period by more than double.

According to IOM, the sharp increase in the number of migrants attempting to return from Yemen to Djibouti is due to “the immense challenges and difficulties in Yemen and in reaching Saudi Arabia.”

The agency said it is actively working on actionable recommendations for providing humanitarian assistance to migrants in distress and addressing the plight of missing migrants and their families. It called on all concerned actors along the route to join hands and support its efforts to return the stranded migrants home safely from the harsh conditions in Yemen.