Security forces in Yemen's Abyan province conduct a sweep along the coast on August 5, 2025, as they search for bodies and survivors after a boat carrying around 200 mostly Ethiopian migrants sank off the coast of Yemen on August 3. AFP
It was the deadliest boat accident on the migration path known as the "Eastern Route" in the past five years. On Sunday, August 3, at least 90 people drowned off the coast of Yemen, near the town of Shoqra. According to Abdusattor Esoev, the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) chief of mission in Yemen, 154 people were aboard a wooden boat when it capsized in the Gulf of Aden. The boat was overloaded and sailing in rough seas, and though 12 migrants – all men – survived, around 50 other people were still missing. All of them hailed from Ethiopia.
On Monday, Ethiopia's Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed "deep sorrow" and conveyed its condolences to the victims' families, in a statement reported by the state-backed Fana Media Corporation. The ministry also urged Ethiopian citizens to "avoid irregular migration routes" and to "protect themselves from human traffickers, who exploit vulnerable individuals and expose them to life-threatening risks."
