Djibouti: 20 die as smugglers push 80 migrants off boat

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - At least 20 migrants perished on Wednesday after human smugglers pushed 80 off a boat along the East African coast of Obock in Djibouti.

Mohammed Abdiker, regional director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said on Twitter that the boat was on its way to Yemen when the incident took place.

Thousands of young African migrants try to pass through war-torn Yemen looking for jobs in Gulf countries, noted Abdiker.

This was the third such tragedy in less than six months, claiming over 70 lives, he added.

Djibouti, bordering Somalia in the south and the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the east, is a small country located in the Horn of Africa.

Border closure in Ethiopia and stricter border management in Yemen have added to the hardship of these migrants who transit through Djibouti on their way to or from the Arabian Peninsula. Along the migration corridor, these migrants often fall prey to human smugglers.