At least 139 die as migrant boat capsizes off Djibouti

The International Organization for Migration, as cited in reports, said at least 139 migrants – 15 of them children – were killed when a vessel carrying over 300 people overturned near Guhere, north of Obock, on October 8 while heading from Djibouti to Yemen. More than 80 people survived, while scores remained missing.³⁵⁶

Recovery operation continues

The IOM initially reported 109 recovered bodies, made up of 52 men, 42 women and 15 children – nine girls and six boys. It later raised the death toll after 30 additional bodies were recovered, according to The National. More than 116 people were reported missing in an earlier assessment, while other accounts said dozens or more than 80 people remained unaccounted for.¹²³⁴

The boat went down during the night of October 8-9 near Guhere, an area north of the Djiboutian port town of Obock, according to reports. Accounts differed over the number aboard: one report put it at about 305 people, while another said 350. Djiboutian authorities have continued search and rescue work.¹²³

All of the more than 80 survivors were Ethiopian nationals, according to the IOM. Local authorities were providing medical care and arranging burials, reports said, while IOM teams were assisting alongside them. Alexandre Coissac, the IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, said: "Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance".²³

A heavily used sea crossing

Each year, this sea passage is taken by many tens of thousands of people migrating from the Horn of Africa. They travel through Djibouti and cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait toward Yemen, with Gulf countries their eventual intended destinations, according to the IOM. The shipwreck is among the deadliest recorded on the route to Yemen, the New York Times reported.³⁴⁶

Since September 10, the IOM's Displacement Tracking Matrix has logged over 20,000 journeys from Ethiopia into Djibouti. Reports also said that, by the preceding week, over 3,700 people had crossed by sea from Yemen to escape to Djibouti. Fighting has continued on Yemen’s Red Sea coast between Saudi Arabia-backed government forces and Iran-backed Houthis since early September, The National reported.¹²³

Coissac described the disaster as "This is a devastating loss of life". He also said the incident underscored the risks faced by people using the migration corridor in pursuit of economic opportunities.¹²