Thursday, 10th of August was another brutal day for some migrants from Ethiopia. Well about 160 Ethiopian migrants were violently forced into the sea off Yemen’s coast that morning. This yet another rude violence comes one day after the presumed death of 50 Ethiopian and Somali migrants during a similar incident.
According to reports reaching from that end, this tragedy took place off the coast of Shabwa, a Yemeni Governorate along the Arabian Sea – although in a different location and closer to the shore.
Staff from IOM, the UN Migration Agency, found six bodies on the beach – two male and four female. An additional 13 Ethiopian migrants are still missing (unaccounted for). As at the time of press, IOM has provided emergency medical assistance to 57 migrants. IOM also provided food, water and other emergency relief assistance to the surviving migrants. 84 migrants (in addition to the 57) left the beach before IOM arrived.
It is really heartbreaking that every year, thousands of migrants risk their lives on this life-threatening route towards the Gulf countries through Yemen, a country in crisis. At the moment, the journey and the situation in Yemen is extremely dangerous for migrants.
IOM noted that the psychological effect these experiences have on children can be enormous. And that, this is why IOM has embedded psychologists in their patrolling teams on Yemen’s beaches. The deadly actions of the smugglers bring the total number of presumed dead over the last two day close to 70.
Migrant survivors from other smuggling journeys have told IOM that usually smuggler networks coordinate when migrants arrive in Yemen so that they would have a pick up location. Some migrants who are able to pay extra money are taken by car to unknown destinations. Others, who do not have money, walk for long distances, without knowing where they are headed.
“Recently, smugglers have been pushing migrants out of the boats, fearing that the security forces might arrest them. This is what happened the past two days in Shabowa,” said Lina Koussa, IOM’s Emergency Response Officer in Aden.
“We condemn the acts of smugglers off the coast of Yemen – 120 Somali and Ethiopian migrants were forced from a boat yesterday, and another 160 today, the death toll is still unknown,” said William Lacy Swing, IOM Director General.
“The utter disregard for human life by these smugglers, and all human smugglers worldwide, is nothing less than immoral. What is a teenager’s life worth? On this route to the Gulf countries, it can be as little as 100 USD. There is something fundamentally wrong with this world if countless numbers of children can be deliberately and ruthlessly drowned in the ocean, when they are no longer an easy source of income, and nothing is done to stop it from ever happening again,” continued DG Swing.
“It should never have happened in the first place. We should not have to wait for tragedies like these to show us that international cooperation must be enhanced to fight human smuggling – not just through policy but through real action along these smuggling routes. This is a busy and extremely dangerous smuggling route. Yemen is suffering one of today’s most dire humanitarian crises.
“Countries experiencing conflict or crisis like Yemen need greater support to reinforce law enforcement and humanitarian border management with the aim of protecting vulnerable migrants like these 16 year old kids. My thoughts are with their families and loved ones in Ethiopia and Somalia. I am making a promise to them that IOM will not forget them and will continue to fight to protect the rights and dignity of future generations of migrants.”
