109 Migrants Including 15 Children Dead in Djibouti Boat Capsize

On Thursday night, a boat carrying 350 people from Djibouti to Yemen capsized near the port town of Obock, killing at least 109 people, including 15 children, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Only around 80 souls were rescued, and the IOM mission chief in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, said the tragedy underscored how perilous the perilous migration route to the Gulf remains.

The bodies recovered comprised 52 men, 42 women, nine girls and six boys—all Ethiopian nationals—while victims are still unaccounted for and local officials are painstakingly arranging burials and delivering medical care to survivors.

Despite Yemen’s protracted civil war, migrants from the Horn of Africa continue to attempt the risky crossing across the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait, driven by poverty, insecurity and climate‑change‑related displacement. The IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix recorded over 20,000 movements from Ethiopia to Djibouti since 10 September.

The IOM is currently hosting 64 survivors at its response centre in Obock and collaborating closely with authorities to "prevent deaths at sea and on land." Last year, the same route claimed more than 900 migrant lives, while an 18 % rise in traveller numbers was reported.

The incident serves as a stark reminder of the desperate circumstances that spin the migrant safety crisis in the Horn of Africa, where humanitarian agencies struggle to offer shelter, food, and medical treatment to those who survive.