At least 43 African migrants trying to reach Yemen by boat have drowned in heavy seas off the coast, and a second boat with up to 40 Ethiopians aboard is missing, Yemen's Interior Ministry said today.
The ministry website said three Somalis were rescued after a vessel carrying 46 people, mostly from Ethiopia, capsized, and a second boat carrying Ethiopians was missing.
"It's not known in which direction the wind took them and their fate is unknown," the website quoted the Yemeni coastguard as saying of the missing vessel, which it said carried 35-40 Ethiopians including women and children.
Mass drownings have been frequent as many African migrants in unseaworthy boats try to reach Yemen, which they see as a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East and the West.
"The Gulf of Aden is still used by many migrants and asylum seekers trying to get to Yemen and then further on to Saudi Arabia," Jean-Philippe Chauzy, spokesman of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Reuters.
"We've seen a slight change in the route used by smuggling rings, they are increasingly using Djibouti as a stepping stone on the way to Yemen rather than using Bosasso, Somalia. It is a transit areas for asylum seekers from the Horn of Africa trying to reach Yemen," he said.
Reuters