Eight migrants have died and 22 others are missing after being forced off a boat near the Djiboutian coast, the UN migration agency reported Wednesday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) stated that smugglers compelled 150 migrants to disembark and swim to shore on June 5.
IOM patrol teams found the migrants in the desert and transported them to a response center.
The IOM and Djiboutian authorities are continuing search and rescue efforts for the missing.
Celestine Frantz, IOM Regional Director, called every life lost at sea a “tragedy,” emphasizing that smugglers force migrants into “impossible choices.”
Thousands of migrants from African, Middle Eastern, and South Asian countries attempt irregular migration annually, often via crowded vessels across the Red Sea to Gulf countries, before potentially continuing to Europe.
Yemen is a significant route for East and Horn of Africa migrants seeking work in Gulf countries.
