Migrants fleeing African conflicts: the forgotten Red Sea crisis
Another boat with 45 refugees on board sank in the past few hours in the very stretch of water at the centre of concerns over Houthis attacks against shipping. Almost one hundred thousand people travelled this route in the past year, which the International Organisation for Migration defines as the most dangerous in the world.
Milan (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today reported that another boat with at least 45 people on board capsized Wednesday night off the coast of Yemen.
Only four survivors have been rescued off the coast of Taiz governorate. The agency blamed "strong winds and overloading" as the cause.
A similar but deadlier tragedy took place last month, on 10 June, when a boat carrying about 260 people, mostly from Ethiopia and Somalia, sank in the same waters.
The sea between Yemen and the Horn of Africa has become a common route for refugees and migrants travelling in both directions.
The outbreak of civil war in 2014 resulted in a surge in Yemenis fleeing the country.
In April 2022 Houthi rebels and the government reached a truce, leading to a decrease in violence and the easing of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
The sea route, however, is still a high-risk area following Houthi attacks against merchant shipping in the Red Sea and drone strikes against Israel, like last week when a civilian was killed in Tel Aviv, sparking a major Israeli operation against the Yemeni port of Al Hudaydah.
Despite all this, thousands of people continue to flee conflicts in Africa seeking refuge in Yemen or use it to reach the more prosperous Gulf countries.
According to migration flow data, this route remains one of the “busiest and most perilous” in the world.
Over the past year, 97,000 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa along a route that often proves deadly.
Since 2014, the International Organisation for Migration recorded 1,860 deaths and disappearances along this stretch of sea.
Photo: Flickr/Unchr
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11/08/2017 20:05
13/10/2016 10:30
