Shabwa (South24)

The director of the health office in Shabwa Governorate in South Yemen, Dr. Ali Al-Dheeb, said on Monday that 45 African migrants’ bodies have been recovered so far after the boat carrying them capsized in the governorate’s coastal waters overlooking the Arabian Sea.

Al-Dheeb explained that more than 200 African migrants on their way to Yemen had been on board when the incident occurred. He pointed out that the death toll is likely to increase as search operations continue.

The local official said that the internationally recognized Yemeni government’s coast guard forces, along with a team from the International Organization for Migration, arrived at the scene to search for survivors.

A source in the Coast Guard told South24 Center that 27 women were among the initial dead and that four people were rescued but are in critical health condition.

Later, the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, reported that the number of deaths had reached 49 migrants, with 140 others missing. It noted that the boat was carrying 260 migrants.

Annually, tens of thousands of migrants from countries in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia and Ethiopia, flow to Yemen, which serves as a transit station for those crossing toward Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

Many migrants fail to cross Yemen’s borders with Saudi Arabia or the Sultanate of Oman and end up stranded in war-torn Yemen under poor humanitarian conditions.

A few days ago, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees appealed to the international community to provide the necessary support to meet the needs of African refugees in the Kharaz camp in Lahj Governorate, South Yemen.