Smugglers eject migrants from boat off Djibouti: at least eight dead
In this photo from July 15, 2019, Ethiopian migrants board a ferry boat in Djibouti.
Nariman El-Mofti / AP Photo
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3 min
According to survivors rescued by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), smugglers "violently pushed young men and women out of the boat."
There are eight dead and 12 missing among these migrants, who were trying to return to the Horn of Africa.
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It is a scene of horror described on Sunday, October 4, by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The drama unfolded off the coast of Djibouti, aboard a boat transporting migrants to Obock, an important transit town for Africans trying to reach the Gulf.
"
According to surviving witnesses, whom IOM rescued, three smugglers violently pushed young men and women out of the boat which was then in the open sea,
" said Yvonne Ndege, spokesperson for the UN agency.
Recrudescence of migrants in Yemen for three weeks
The first toll is heavy: of the 34 migrants who were on board, eight died, and 12 others are missing.
The victims were Ethiopians who sought to return to the Horn of Africa, after failing in their attempt to reach Saudi Arabia via Yemen.
A wish made impossible because of the multiple border closures linked to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The situation is getting worse lately.
According to IOM, over the past three weeks at least 2,000 migrants have arrived from Yemen to Djibouti.
Most want to enter Ethiopia, Somalia or other countries in the Horn of Africa.
And for lack of a safe route possible, "
they put their lives on the line, risk being exploited by smugglers and, in this specific case, die
", laments Yvonne Ndgege.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which separates Djibouti from Yemen, is an important place for the smuggling of migrants and refugees in both directions.
On the one hand, Yemenis fleeing the war, and on the other, Africans who want to try their luck in the Arabian Peninsula.
► See also: Migration: the UN extends the authorization to inspect suspicious ships in Libya
(With AFP)
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Immigration
Ethiopia
Djibouti
International Migration
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