45 Found Dead off the Coast of Djibouti Carrying Migrants Crossing the Red Sea
At least 45 dead off the coast of Djibouti from sunken migrant ship (Photo: Djibouti Coast Guard/ABC News)
Tuesday, October 1st, 2024, a migrant boat departing from Yemen carrying 310 people sank off the coast of Djibouti; 45 are confirmed dead, with many more still missing. This tragedy brings the ongoing migrant crisis across the Red Sea between the eastern horn of Africa and the Middle-Eastern Gulf States to the foreground. In April 2024, at least 38 people died crossing the sea, and in June, 49 more. The passage across the Red Sea, referred to as the “Eastern Route,” is one of the most used and dangerous migrant crossings in the world and is a critical concern for the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The cross is primarily by migrants fleeing home, typically from Somalia and Ethiopia, and traveling through Djibouti to Gulf states such as Yemen. Migrants flee for an array of reasons: poor economic conditions, climate change, conflict zones, and political unrest, and put their lives in the hands of illegal human smugglers to bring them to the other side of the Red Sea. Or vice versa, migrants unhappy with the conditions found in Yemen, or even Yemenese fleeing their conflict state, will travel the Eastern Route back to Somalia and Ethiopia.
Either way, the migration is treacherous and long. For those coming from Africa, the conditions are brutal. Migrants must first reach the coast of Djibouti before starting their overseas journey to Yemen.
The devastating effects of drought and conflict in Somalia seen in a refugee camp on the outskirts of the nation (Photo: AP Newsroom/Jerome Delay)
The overland journey relies on illegal human smugglers as the “illusive prospect of finding employment beyond Africa is enough to brave the desert and place their lives in the hands of these transnational organized crime networks,” facing difficult conditions of drought, violence, and exhaustion.
After reaching the coast with the help of illegal human smugglers and boarding an overcrowded ship, overseas travels through treacherous waters and unsafe conditions begin. Upon arrival, according to the IOM, “thousands find themselves stranded, unable to navigate treacherous frontlines or are held captive by smugglers. Women face increased vulnerability, often enduring sexual violence and navigate the difficult task of caring for infants in harsh living conditions.” The IOM emphasizes that the influx of migrants arriving in Yemen from the Eastern Route has “reached critical levels.” The region’s organization has made various critical appeals for aid. For the past several years, the flow of migrants into Yemen has continued to rise from 27,000 migrants in 2021 to over 90,000 in 2023. The IOM’s 2024 prediction predicts over 300,000 migrants will require humanitarian aid in the Yemen coastal regions.
Yet, the issue is difficult to change. Somalia still faces internal struggles with the civil war starting in the 1990s, creating long-lasting internal clashes, with a sustained majority of the population in exile. The UN estimates that 6.7 million Somalians have inadequate access to food, causing increasing cases of child malnourishment. For the past four years, the overall Eastern horn of Africa has faced crippling drought brought on by climate change, causing severe food insecurity, inevitably leading to increased migration.