A major search and rescue operation is underway off the coast of Djibouti after smugglers forced over 100 migrants to jump into the sea, leaving many missing and at least 45 confirmed dead, according to the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration (IOM). The incident occurred on Tuesday and has made 2024 the deadliest year for sea crossings along the migration route between East Africa and Yemen.
Two boats carrying a total of 310 migrants had left Yemen bound for Djibouti. Midway through the journey, smugglers pushed their passengers into the open sea, near the coast of Obock, a port town in Djibouti, leaving them to struggle for survival. Djiboutian Coast Guard units, supported by IOM, have rescued 154 migrants so far, including a four-month-old baby whose mother tragically drowned. The number of missing persons, however, remains high as rescuers continue to search for more than 100 still unaccounted for.
The Eastern Route, which links the Horn of Africa to Gulf nations, is notorious for being one of the most dangerous migration corridors globally. Each year, thousands of desperate migrants embark on perilous journeys across the sea, seeking better economic opportunities in wealthy Gulf nations. However, many of these journeys end in catastrophe. Migrants face brutal conditions at the hands of smugglers and are frequently abandoned at sea or left trapped in conflict-torn countries like Yemen.
In this particular incident, the survivors’ testimonies paint a grim picture of their ordeal, with people thrown overboard in an unforgiving stretch of water. The IOM has described the plight of these migrants as a humanitarian tragedy. The agency emphasized that many migrants caught in the violence in Yemen make desperate attempts to return to Djibouti, only to face more dangers at sea.
The high death toll from this latest tragedy highlights the urgent need for stronger international efforts to address the root causes of dangerous migration and improve protections for vulnerable people. It also underscores the failure of migration networks that have allowed the exploitation and death of thousands of people in one of the world’s busiest migration corridors.
As 2024 marks the deadliest year for migrants on this route, with an alarming rise in deaths, the international community is called upon to implement immediate measures to safeguard those fleeing economic despair and to dismantle the criminal networks profiting from human suffering.
