At least 139 migrants, including 15 children, died after a boat carrying over 300 people capsized off Djibouti last week, according to the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM).
At the time the vessel sank, it was carrying 305 people, with 84 still remaining missing. Video taken by IOM workers shows shoes and other personal items on a beach near the shipwreck, the Associated Press reported.
Alexandre Coissac, IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti, told the AP via phone that the death toll only includes those buried by authorities in Djibouti. Others have been buried by the migrants themselves, but they won't be added to the official count until authorities can verify the bodies.
Eighty-two people, all of whom were Ethiopian nationals, survived the incident, IOM said Sunday. Djiboutian authorities were continuing search-and-rescue operations for those still missing.
Among the 109 bodies recovered were 52 men, 42 women and 15 children. The children included nine girls and six boys.
The vessel was traveling from Djibouti to Yemen when it capsized near Guhere, north of the port town of Obock, during the night of October 8-9, according to survivor accounts cited by the IOM.
The IOM said it was assisting 64 survivors at its Migrant Response Centre in Obock, providing healthcare, psychosocial assistance, temporary shelter, food and protection services, as well as helping survivors restore contact with their families. Local authorities were also providing medical care and arranging burials for those who died.
“This is a devastating loss of life,” Coissac said, adding that the disaster underscored the dangers facing migrants along the corridor as they seek economic opportunities.
Tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa travel through Djibouti each year before crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait toward Yemen, often hoping eventually to reach Gulf countries in search of safety, stability and work, according to the IOM. The organization said poverty, insecurity and the effects of climate change are among the factors driving people to attempt the journey.
The risks do not end with the sea crossing. Migrants who reach Yemen can face violence, arbitrary arrest and detention, exploitation and trafficking, the IOM said, adding that it had recorded more than 20,000 movements into Djibouti from Ethiopia since September 10.
Newsweek reached out to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the IOM by email Sunday for further comment.
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Hundreds Have Died or Gone Missing Along Route
Sea crossings remain among the deadliest migration routes worldwide. The IOM said at least 2,185 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2025, while another 1,214 died or disappeared on the West African Atlantic route toward Spain’s Canary Islands.
The agency said the true toll was likely higher, with at least 1,500 additional people reported missing at sea whose cases could not be verified because of limited search-and-rescue information.
The danger has continued in 2026. As of mid-September, the IOM had recorded 2,292 deaths or disappearances among migrants attempting sea crossings to Europe, even as the number of people arriving by sea fell 39 percent compared with the same period in 2025. The IOM described the Mediterranean and Atlantic routes as the world’s deadliest maritime migration routes.
The route between Djibouti and Yemen has also repeatedly proved deadly. The IOM said more than 900 migrants died or went missing along the sea route to Yemen in 2025, while the number attempting the journey rose 18 percent. A separate shipwreck in March 2026 left nine people dead and 45 missing.
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Why Migrants Take the Dangerous Route
Many of the migrants crossing from Djibouti to Yemen are ultimately hoping to reach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in search of work.
Economic pressures are the dominant force behind migration along the Eastern Route. The IOM found that 89 percent of movements recorded in 2024 were primarily for economic reasons, while 7 percent were linked to conflict, violence or persecution.
"No one gets into a boat like that unless they believe there is no other safe way," IOM Director General Amy Pope said in an updated press release Sunday. "We cannot keep treating these deaths as normal. Safe and legal pathways save lives. I am asking governments and donors to act before the next boat goes down.”
The IOM says economic hardship and limited livelihood opportunities in Ethiopia, along with conflict, continue to drive migration through Djibouti. Many migrants travel irregularly and rely on smuggling networks to make the journey through the Horn of Africa and across the sea to Yemen.
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Steve Mollman and Anthony Murray.