DUBLIN,Ireland Aug 5-At least 68 people have died and many more remain missing after a packed boat carrying around 157 migrants sank in rough seas off Yemen’s southern coast on Sunday. Only 12 survivors were rescued, according to Abdusattor Esoev, Yemen chief for the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Most of the victims are believed to be Ethiopian nationals.
The tragedy unfolded near Abyan province, a region frequently used by smugglers moving migrants from the Horn of Africa—including Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea—towards Gulf countries in search of better opportunities. The IOM warned that the route, although popular, is one of the world’s most dangerous for migrants.
Security officials in Abyan launched a large-scale search and rescue operation, recovering dozens of bodies scattered across the coastline.
“This is a known smuggling route. It’s remote, risky, and often exploited by traffickers who care little for the safety of those on board,” said Esoev. He urged governments to expand legal migration pathways to prevent further exploitation and tragedy.
In March, another deadly incident saw two boats carrying over 180 migrants sink in Yemen’s Dhubab district, with only two crew members rescued.
Despite the dangers, migration along this route persists. Over 60,000 migrants arrived in Yemen in 2024 alone, according to the IOM. The agency’s Missing Migrants Project has recorded over 3,400 deaths along the route in the past decade,1,400 due to drowning.
Meanwhile, in Libya, another maritime disaster has left dozens of Egyptian migrants missing or dead after a Europe-bound boat carrying 81 people capsized off the coast of Tobruk on July 24.
Only ten survivors, including eight Egyptians, were rescued. Eighteen bodies were recovered in the days that followed, but only six have been formally identified. The IOM estimates that about 50 people remain missing.
For families, the ordeal has been heartbreaking and bureaucratically chaotic. Omar Fathy, who lost two cousins in the disaster, described the process of identifying and retrieving the bodies as “haphazard.” His cousin’s body was mistakenly sent to a morgue in Derna, Libya, alongside a dozen unidentified victims, despite earlier arrangements for repatriation through the Salloum border crossing.
“The family had to undergo interrogations and DNA testing, just to get the body home,” Fathy said. Most updates came not from Egyptian officials, but from local organizations like the Abereen Foundation and the Tobruk Maritime Search and Rescue Office.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry issued its first public statement a week after the incident, offering few details. Families only began submitting DNA samples in Cairo on Tuesday, days after confusion around misidentified bodies had already spread.
Mustafa Nassir, a relative of three still-missing Egyptians, said the survivors were being held in Libya until they could assist with body identification. They were released by Tobruk’s prosecution and are awaiting deportation.
Nassir recounted how the boat capsized just eight kilometers into the journey, describing it as “unseaworthy.” He said most of those on board were young men from Assiut, Minya, and Sharqiya, along with a few South Sudanese nationals. Entire communities are now grieving, with at least 22 young men from Bilbeis in Sharqiya still missing.
As the search continues, families say they’ve been unable to contact the brokers who convinced their sons to migrate. “Once they die, the smugglers just disappear,” Nassir said. “The boys were promised good jobs and housing. Instead, they were met with torture and death.”
The IOM called the Libyan tragedy “a stark reminder of the deadly risks people are forced to take in search of safety and opportunity,” renewing calls for regional cooperation to ensure safe, legal, and dignified migration options.
Libya remains a major transit hub for migrants attempting to reach Europe, despite ongoing conflict and reports of abuse, exploitation, and detention. According to the IOM’s latest data, Egypt now accounts for 19% of all migrants trying to cross from Libya to Europe.
As of this year, the total number of migrants in Libya has surpassed 867,000, a 20% increase over the same period last year. Just this month, Libya’s coastguard intercepted boats carrying over 1,700 migrants.
