At least 16 Ethiopian migrants drown off Djibouti coast, rescue underway

ADDIS ABABA -- At least 16 Ethiopian migrants, including children and women, drowned and 28 others were missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the Ethiopian Embassy in Djibouti said Tuesday.

In a press statement, the embassy said that the Ethiopian migrants lost their lives on Monday night when a boat carrying 77 of them capsized off the coast of Djibouti. The incident occurred while the migrants were being transported by human smugglers from war-torn Yemen to Djibouti.

The embassy said that the 16 Ethiopian migrants who died in the incident include children and women. It also noted that 33 migrants who were aboard the capsized boat have been rescued, but 28 migrants remain missing. The rescue efforts are underway.

Expressing its condolences for the victims, the embassy also warned of the serious risks associated with illegal migration across the Red Sea.

The International Organization for Migration has frequently expressed concern about the dire conditions faced by migrants stranded in war-torn Yemen, leaving them with no choice but to rely on smugglers to return home. It has called on all governments and concerned actors along the route to join hands and support its efforts to allow migrants to return home safely.

The latest boat accident is one of many similar deadly calamities that have occurred in Djibouti's Red Sea coast area. Earlier this month, the Ethiopian embassy said that at least 38 Ethiopian migrants had died off the coast of Djibouti.

Data from the embassy show that more than 200,000 Ethiopian migrants make risky land and sea journeys from the coast of Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden each year to reach destinations in the Middle East. It said that at least 189 Ethiopian nationals had died off the coast of Djibouti in the past five years.

In most of these incidents, desperate East African migrants attempted to cross the dangerous route, hoping to reach the Middle East via war-torn Yemen, with the main destination being Yemen's northern neighbor, Saudi Arabia.