Migrant shipwreck off the coast of Djibouti leaves at least 109 dead and more than 116 missing

At least 109 migrants, including 15 children, died and more than 116 others are missing after a boat sank on the night of October 8 to 9, off the coast of Djibouti, the UN said on Sunday. According to survivors, the boat, which was transporting 350 people from Djibouti to Yemen, capsized near Guhere, north of the Djiboutian town of Obock, according to a press release from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“Our teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency assistance. This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers to which migrants are exposed along this migratory route” which they take in the hope of finding better “economic opportunities”, declared Alexandre Coissac, IOM head of mission in Djibouti.

Among the 109 bodies found were 52 men, 42 women and 15 children, including nine girls and six boys. More than 80 people survived the shipwreck, all of Ethiopian nationality, according to the IOM. The organization is providing assistance to 64 survivors at its Migrant Assistance Center in Obock, providing them with health care, temporary accommodation and food aid, while the Djiboutian authorities continue search operations.

“Every year, tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa transit through Djibouti and cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to reach Yemen, hoping to reach Gulf countries in search of security, stability and employment,” explains the IOM. “Poverty, insecurity and the growing consequences of climate change are pushing many of them to undertake this journey, despite the growing instability reigning in the Middle East”, including in Yemen, she underlines.

“Migrants desperate for economic opportunities in Gulf countries”

Since September 10, the IOM has recorded more than 20,000 arrivals from Ethiopia in Djibouti. Between January 1 and October 1, 2026, the organization recorded approximately 178,000 arrivals from Ethiopia. “The majority of people making these trips are of Ethiopian or Somali nationality,” explained an IOM spokesperson, Kennedy Omondi Okoth, to AFP this week.

“These perilous journeys, which put their lives in danger, are mainly undertaken by migrants in desperate search of economic opportunities in the Gulf countries, with Djibouti constituting a transit country for them. However, due to the risks associated with these journeys, many find themselves stranded in the country,” he said.

IOM calls for increased funding for rescue operations and emergency assistance in Djibouti, as well as the development of safe migration routes. In 2025, more than 900 migrants died or went missing on the “Eastern route”, which connects the Horn of Africa to Yemen via Djibouti, before continuing to other destinations. The number of people using this route increased by 18% over this period, according to the IOM.