The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that 552 African migrants have died or gone missing during their perilous journey to Yemen since the beginning of this year.
The organization said in a recent report that the journey to Yemen poses additional risks, as many migrants fall victim to smugglers who promise them a safe journey but often expose them to serious risks, and these risks continue even for those who try to leave Yemen.
It pointed out that at least 462 deaths and disappearances among migrants have been reported while crossing the sea between Djibouti and Yemen so far this year, and 90 other deaths of migrants have been documented along the eastern route in 2024, according to the organization’s Missing Migrants Project.
IOM noted that the number of missing and undocumented people is likely to be much higher. The organization, through its head of mission in Yemen, Abdul Sattar Aisouef, appealed to donors to provide urgent additional funding to support the voluntary humanitarian return program for migrants in Yemen, noting that “without this support, thousands of migrants will continue to live in extreme hardship with limited options for safe return.”
Every year, tens of thousands of African migrants enter Yemen by sea and the shores of the southern regions, most of them from Ethiopia and Somalia, to reach Saudi Arabia, fleeing conflicts or natural disasters, or seeking better living opportunities, while others who are stranded are forced to return to their countries through dangerous journeys.
Through the voluntary humanitarian return program, the International Organization for Migration has contributed to the return of 4,800 migrants to their countries since the beginning of this year.
