2024 Yemen migrant boat disaster
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Date | 10 June 2024 |
|---|---|
| Time | 3:30 a.m. |
| Location | Gulf of Aden |
| Casualties | |
| A total of 260 migrants from the Horn of Africa were on the boat when the disaster occurred. | |
| Deaths | 49 deaths, including 31 women and 6 children |
| Missing | Up to 140 migrants were reported missing |
The Eastern migration route – from the Horn of Africa, crossing over the Gulf of Aden through Yemen and on to richer Gulf States such as Saudi Arabia – is a dangerous route for migrants to take. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) recorded 558 deaths on this route in 2024 alone, of which most (462) occurred through drowning.[1]
One example of this occurred on June 10 2024, when 49 migrants drowned when the boat carrying them across the Gulf of Aden sunk. The boat was carrying around 260 Somalis and Ethiopians, of which 90 women. It capsized around 3.30am with 49 deaths immediately confirmed and many more missing.[2]
Local fishermen were the first to rush to help, followed by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the IOM. It had numerous health consequences for the victims and impacted local health services.
Context and background
The Republic of Yemen is a country in the Middle East characterized by political instability and civil war, which has been raging since 2014.[3] However, despite this instability and ongoing turmoil, Yemen remains a valuable transit route for many people migrating illegally to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.[4] These people, mostly men, but also women, and children, generally come from countries in the Horn of Africa, specifically, nationals from Somalia and Ethiopia.[5][6] They are assisted by smugglers who take them across the Gulf of Aden with life-threatening transfers.[4] Another route links Djibouti and Yemen.[5]
Details of the disaster
The year 2024 was marked by several maritime disasters involving migrants coming from the Horn of Africa and leaving for Yemen.[6] Among these, there is the shipwreck of June 10, 2024, which occurred in the province of Shabwah, not far from Alghareef Point.[7] This shipwreck involved a boat that departed from Bossaso in Somalia on Sunday, June 9, 2024. It occurred at 3.30 a.m.[7] The statistics of the IOM state that there were a total of 260 migrants on this ship, including 145 people of Ethiopian nationality and 115 of Somali nationality.[7] They were 90 women on board.[7] After the ship sunk near the Yemeni coast, at least 49 migrant deaths were counted, including 31 women and 6 children.[7][2] 140 were reported missing.[7][2]
When the boat reached the coast of Shabwah (approx. 3.7km or 2.3 miles), strong winds caused the boat to take on water and slant to one side.[8] After traveling for approximately 24 hours, the smugglers forced the migrants to jump off the boat and into the water.[8] A fisherman who witnessed this contacted the IOM who responded immediately, accompanied by the local coast guard and local fisherman.[8]
After this event of June 10, 2024, three months later, another shipwreck occurred on August 20, 2024.[9] The ship had 25 migrants from Ethiopia and 2 Yemeni nationals.[9] It sunk near the coast of the Ta'iz governorate of the Dubab district, which is a sub-district of Bani Al-Hakam.[9] There were 13 dead, including 11 men and 2 women.[9] 14 migrants were reported missing.[9]
Etiology of the disaster
There are several reasons behind these disasters.[10] These reasons are political, economic, social, and even environmental.[10][11] In general, there is political instability, insecurity caused by ongoing conflicts, difficult living conditions, extreme poverty, and growing unemployment.[10][11] In Somalia, for example, there is an ongoing civil war, resulting in chronic instability.[10] In addition, there are environmental challenges in the form of devastating floods and droughts.[10] In Ethiopia, a destructive drought and tribal wars, especially in the Tigray region, are considerably impacting the population.[10] All of these root causes are driving Ethiopians and Somalis to flee their countries in search of a better life and better job opportunities elsewhere.[10][11]
Geographic and physical impacts
Shipwreck debris and environmental impact
In addition to the loss of at least 49 lives, the marine pollution impact from this disaster arose from boat wreckage, scattered debris and spilling of pollutants into oceanic waters.[12] The sunken vessel's leaking fuel and debris therefore had the physical impact of polluting seawater, potentially harming marine life (e.g., coral reefs).[13] Recovering human bodies along this vast shoreline imposed an economic cost, while recurring migrant boat disasters in the Gulf of Aden establish cumulative environmental risks, further compounded by the ongoing Houthi anti-shipping campaigns.[14] Repeated small-scale oil spills, debris, vessel wreckage degrade marine ecosystems and exacerbate challenges faced by Yemen's conflict-weakened communities with minimal environmental hazard response capacity.[15]
Geographic barriers, maritime hazards and fragile health infrastructure
Strong currents and seasonal rough seas make the route from Somalia or Djibouti to Yemen hazardous. The challenging terrain and infrastructure gaps amplified this disaster's impact.[16] Years of conflict had left Yemen with extremely limited capacity for maritime domain awareness and rescue.[17] The IOM directly cited lack of operational patrol boats and other incident response resources as constraints to post-incident search and rescue efforts.[18] Reliance on local fisherman for post-disaster search and rescue is indicative of lack of formal rescue services and capabilities.[19]
This disaster overwhelmed Yemen's southern coast health infrastructure, with small health posts treating dozens of survivors and at least eight admitted to hospital for treatment and care.[20] Yemen's ongoing humanitarian emergency had already weakened local medical facilities, and this sudden spike in caseloads further strained already minimal healthcare facilities. This incident therefore amplified the negative externalities of fragile health systems in conflict-affected zones, reflecting a negative relationship between displacement and migrant health security guarantees from states.[21] Beyond health systems strain, the disaster geography influenced how the fatalities were managed.
Body recovery and post-disaster management
This site's remoteness and sparse infrastructure hindered effective body recovery, emergency management and disaster response. Reports show bodies drifting ashore in similar incidents posed public health and logistical challenges.[22] In this disaster, local villagers and fishermen both assisted search and rescue and had to undertake urgent burials due to inadequate morgue capacity.[23] From a health security perspective, limited state capacity exacerbated body management bottlenecks.
Dynamics and cascading humanitarian impacts
There were no reports of landing migrants displacing Yemeni communities in this disaster. However, the migrants involved in this disaster were part of a broader displacement dynamic with socio-economic and political dimensions, environmental and climate change causes.[24] The eastern route from the Horn of Africa represents a continuum of displacement - individuals displaced from native African countries face danger en route. Despite Yemen's ongoing civil war with its cascading humanitarian implications for the region, it remains a major transit route for migrants seeking passage to wealthier Gulf states with this disaster highlighting health insecurity from the structural vulnerabilities of regional irregular migration routes.
Local and international responses
Local fishermen were the first to raise the alarm after spotting bodies floating in the sea and bringing them ashore.[25] Working with residents from nearby coastal communities, they provided immediate humanitarian support to the 78 migrants they helped rescue from the water, demonstrating solidarity and community resilience despite the severe hardships faced by Yemenis themselves as a result of more than a decade of civil-war.[26] Local NGOs and volunteer groups then joined the fishermen in the search for the missing migrants. These community-led efforts involved informal search and rescue operations, transporting survivors to where they could be helped and recovering the bodies of those who had drowned, bringing them to the local cemeteries to be buried.[27]
According to the IOM, the victims were among an estimated 60,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa to have entered Yemen through the Gulf of Aden in 2024.[28] With approximately 4.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) already in Yemen as a result of the ongoing civil conflict, however, the government’s ability to provide support in a structured and coordinated manner is limited. Migrants who reach the shore safely face additional dangers once on land, including from kidnappers and other mercenaries as they make their way through to richer countries like Saudi Arabia. Because of this, UN and other international agencies are actively supporting the migrants that arrive in Yemen.
In the tragedy that took place on June 10, 2024, for example, it was the IOM who led the international response by dispatching resources, mobile medical units and mental health professionals to the scene of the disaster.[29] Other international organisations such as the UNHCR also spoke out at the time, underlining the repeated nature of this kind of tragedy and calling it the deadliest boat disaster of the year.[30] Another UN agency, UNOCHA, pointed to the extreme weather conditions and unstable situation in some parts of Ethiopia and Somalia that presumably lead the migrants to attempt the crossing despite its risks.[31]
However, most information about the incident (including from international and local media) draws heavily on information provided by the IOM. Some authors have questioned the predominantly negative framing of migration in such narratives. They argue that cross-border movement can also generate economic and social benefits for both countries of origin and destination. According to these authors, focusing primarily on smugglers may obscure structural issues such as the responsibility of home countries to provide political stability and economic opportunities, as well as the responsibility of host or transit countries to guarantee protection, rights, and safe passage for migrants on their territory.[32]
In 2025, in response to this and to other similar tragedies, an additional 1 million euros was pledged by the European Union to protect and support asylum seekers in Yemen.[33]