At least 8 drown as smugglers force migrants off Red Sea boat

Capsized boat in Obock, Djibouti, where migrant drownings are rising as unsafe sea journeys to the Gulf continue.

Survivors of a people-smuggling operation in the Red Sea have recounted a harrowing ordeal in which they were forced off their boat far from the coast of Djibouti and left to swim for their lives.

At least eight people are feared dead, and 22 others remain missing after smugglers stopped a boat carrying around 150 passengers—likely migrants bound for Yemen—on June 5.

“These young people were forced into impossible choices by smugglers who show no regard for human life,” said Celestine Frantz, Regional Director for the East, Horn, and Southern Africa at the United Nations migration agency. “We are doing everything we can to support the survivors and prevent further loss along this deadly route.”

Search and rescue operations, supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), have recovered five bodies near Moulhoulé in northern Djibouti. The confirmed death toll currently stands at eight, but officials expect this number to rise as search efforts continue.

In the days following the incident, many of the survivors were found in the desert by mobile UN patrols. They are now receiving urgent medical treatment at a local hospital and psychosocial support at the IOM-run Migrant Response Center in Obock, Djibouti.

Thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa risk their lives every year to reach the Gulf States via Yemen, seeking work and safety.

So far this year, 272 deaths have been confirmed along the Eastern Mediterranean migrant route, which includes the perilous sea crossing from Djibouti to Yemen. This figure accounts for casualties across both land and sea routes, according to IOM data.

“This latest tragedy is part of a series of fatal maritime incidents off the coast of Djibouti, underscoring the urgent need for stronger protection mechanisms for migrants along the route between the Horn of Africa and Yemen,” the IOM said.

The UN agency warned that this deadly incident is part of a growing crisis. It called for increased international support to strengthen search and rescue operations and expand safe migration pathways for those undertaking the journey.

In a related update, the IOM reported on Tuesday that the bodies of 10 migrants washed ashore near Marsa Matrouh in Egypt. These migrants are believed to have embarked from the Libyan coast, a common departure point for people smugglers trafficking migrants across the Mediterranean Sea toward Europe.

Since 2014, more than 32,000 people are known to have drowned in the Mediterranean, with many more still missing, according to IOM’s Missing Migrants Project.