According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), traffickers threw several dozen refugees into the sea off the coast of the East African state of Djibouti – at least 20 people drowned in the process. The ship had made its way to Yemen with more than 200 people, as the UN organization announced yesterday. Shortly after leaving the capital Djibouti, around 80 people were pushed off board, according to the IOM.
According to survivors, the ship was overcrowded. Numerous children are said to have been among them. IOM chief in the region, Stephanie Daviot, said the incident was just further evidence „that criminals continue to exploit for profit people who are desperate to make their lives better and don’t care about the consequences.“ The survivors would receive medical care in an IOM facility in Djibouti.
At least 50 people had died in similar incidents in October. Every year in Eastern Africa tens of thousands of young people from countries like Somalia and Ethiopia move to Djibouti to catch one of the boats going to Yemen. From the civil war country, most travel to the rich Gulf states in search of work.
