46 dead as Ethiopian migrant ship capsize between Somalia and Yemen
At least 46 people, both men and women, have died in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
These Ethiopian migrants had left Somalia for Yemen.
Sixteen people are still missing after the capsizing of their boat.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the passengers of the boat were all Ethiopians. They left Somalia on Tuesday. Thirty survivors reached the coast of Yemen.
The tragedy occurred on the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, June 6, when the smugglers’ boat sought to land on a beach in Yemen. But the sea is rough in the Gulf of Aden where navigation is deemed difficult.
The waves hit the shore, the boat takes the water. There is no lifejacket on the ship, according to reports collected by the United Nations Migration Agency.
The survivors could be supported by the organization, to avoid their imprisonment in Yemen, often in inhuman conditions. These Ethiopians were probably looking to leave their country.
In Ethiopia, the humanitarian situation is still tense in some areas. In the East, the land is sometimes hit by floods and drought. Working conditions are also unattractive.
The long-destabilized country is changing: the government is showing signs of appeasement with the lifting of the state of emergency. Prime Minister Oromo Abiy Ahmed is also counting on greater economic openness of the country.
