Djibouti: Boat carrying migrants from Ethiopia capsizes – 109 dead, 116 missing

They came from Ethiopia and wanted to go to Yemen from Djibouti: At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, died after their boat capsized. More than 116 people are still missing. There are said to have been around 350 people on board, all of them Ethiopian nationals. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced this on Sunday.

»This is a devastating loss of life. Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or who still have no news of their relatives,” said Alexandre Coissac, head of the IOM mission in Djibouti. »Our teams are on site together with the local authorities to provide emergency assistance. This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers migrants face in search of economic opportunities along this migration corridor.”

Djibouti is the starting point of the so-called eastern migration route from the Horn of Africa via the Bab al-Mandab Strait to the Arabian Peninsula. A few days ago, the IOM reported that more than 20,000 migrants from Ethiopia had arrived in Djibouti within three weeks. People from Somalia also repeatedly try to get to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates or Oman via the port of Djibouti, where they hope to find jobs.

According to IOM information, it is not just sea crossings that are associated with significant dangers. Migrants reaching Yemen face risks such as violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, exploitation and human trafficking.

According to the IOM's Missing Migrants project, more than 900 migrants died or went missing on this route in 2025, while the number of those making the journey increased by 18 percent. Another ship accident in March 2026 killed nine people and left 45 others missing.