A vessel carrying African migrants sank off the coast of Yemen, killing dozens, the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Sunday.   

What do we know so far?

Sixty-eight of some 154 migrants on board the boat died when it sank early on Sunday, with 74 still missing, the Associated Press news agency reported, citing the IOM.

The passengers on the vessel are reported to all be Ethiopian nationals. 

Dozens of bodies have washed ashore in the southern Yemeni governorate of Abyan. Authorities in Abyan are taking part in a search and rescue operation. 

Abdusattor Esoev, the head of the IOM in Yemen, told AP that 12 migrants survived the capsizing of the boat.  

Why are the Ethiopians in Yemen?

Despite a decade of civil war, Yemen is still a popular transit country for migrants seeking access to wealthy Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia for a better life. There is a large Ethiopian community in Saudi Arabia, with significant diaspora populations also in the UAE and Bahrain. 

On their journey in Yemen, the Ethiopians face danger due to the war between the Iran-linked Houthis and the UN-recognized government. A 2020 Human Rights Watch Report found the Houthis killed and expelled Ethiopian migrants in Yemen at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ethiopia faces a high level of poverty, and the country is grappling with the aftermath of a conflict involving the restive Tigray region

An IOM report published in March found that 60,000 migrants came to Yemen in 2024. The IOM says the route between the Horn of Africa to Yemen is "one of the world's busiest and most perilous mixed migration routes."  

The Horn of Africa is made up of not only Ethiopia, but also Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and the breakaway region of Somaliland. Drought conditions exacerbated by climate change and resulting food insecurity are also reasons why migrants leave the Horn of Africa and head to the rich Gulf Arab states or Europe.

Added by InfoMigrants: **On August 5, after this article had already been published, the IOM issued a further statement, in which they updated the figures on board the boat as well as the number of reported missing. They said: "The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of life after a vessel carrying 200 migrants capsized off the coast of Shuqrah, in Yemen’s Abyan Governorate on August 3. At least 56 people are reported dead, 14 of them female, with many of the victims believed to be Ethiopian nationals. The total number of those missing stands at 132. So far 12 survivors, all male, have been found." 

Author:  Wesley Dockery with Reuters, AP

Edited by: Rana Taha

First published: August 4, 2025

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