"Week of hell at sea": 7 Ethiopian migrants die on boat to Yemen

Seven people died of hunger and thirst after a boat with 250 Ethiopian migrants got stuck at sea for a week on route to Yemen.

What should have been a 24-hour journey took seven days, after the boat reportedly had an engine failure 185 km after taking off from Somalia.

There were 82 children, 95 women and 155 men on board the boat, according to a press release by the UN Migration Agency, IOM, on Wednesday.

Relying on the wind and paddling, most of the passengers made it to shore in the Arqah area, southern Yemen, on Tuesday. Seven people lost their lives on the journey.

“IOM mourns the loss of seven lives. Our focus remains on supporting the survivors and preventing further suffering,” said Abdusattor Esoev, IOM Chief of Mission in Yemen, “These people have been through a week of hell on the high seas. They have been exploited, terrified and traumatized.”  

IOM’s medical team provided survivors with water, food, and medical assistance to combat hunger, dehydration and exposure to extreme weather.

Several individuals were transferred to a clinic, where they received lifesaving care and were later discharged in stable condition. The current whereabouts of the remaining survivors are unknown. 

“This is a wake-up call for all involved to intensify humanitarian response to save lives, enhance search and rescue operations and address the drivers of irregular migration,” Esoev said.

The incident comes just days after another boat with more than 150 Ethiopians capsized off the coast of Yemen on the same Eastafrican migration route.

Each year, tens of thousands of migrants, mainly Ethiopians, travel from the Horn of Africa across the Red Sea and through Yemen to find work in wealthy Gulf countries, according to a report by the Mixed Migration Centre.

In addition to being the most travelled African migration route, the Eastern Route is widely considered the most dangerous, as migrants encounter life-threatening situations and are exposed to ”violence, abuse, and exploitation”, the report stated.