U.N: At least 38 migrants dead in shipwreck off Djibouti

U.N: At least 38 migrants dead in shipwreck off Djibouti

At least 38 migrants, including children, have died in a shipwreck off the Djibouti coast, the United Nations migration agency said on Tuesday.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a post on X on Tuesday that at least six others are missing and presumed dead, and that 22 survivors are being assisted by its representatives in the East African country, along with local officials.

This adds to nearly 1,000 people who have been recorded to have died or gone missing after embarking on the “Eastern Route” since 2014, the IOM said.

Yvonne Ndege, regional spokesperson for the IOM, said the shipwreck happened about 200 metres off Djibouti and that the boat carrying the migrants had left Yemen around 2 a.m. local time on April 8.

In February, the agency reported that nearly 400,000 migrant movements were recorded across the Eastern Route in 2023.

At least 698 people, including women and children, died in 2023 while trying to cross the Gulf of Aden from Djibouti to Yemen in hopes of reaching Saudi Arabia, the IOM said in a report, adding that it provides assistance to more than 1.4 million migrants and host communities in the Horn of Africa, Yemen and Southern Africa.

Migrants and refugees leave home in search of better jobs, to escape conflict and insecurity, and the adverse effects of climate change. In addition to facing the threat of drowning in shipwrecks, they can also be exposed to starvation, health risks, and exploitation by traffickers.