Djibouti: 16 Children and 27 Adults Dead Off the Coast of Djibouti After Migrant Boat Capsizes

Djibouti City, Djibouti — IOM, the International Organization for Migration, and UNICEF, have confirmed that at least 16 children and 27 adults have died after a migrant ship controlled by people smugglers capsized off the coast of Djibouti in the early hours of Monday morning, April 12. The vessel was packed with at least 60 migrants trying to return home to the Horn of Africa, having fled war-torn Yemen, where thousands of migrants are including children are stranded and trapped. This new tragedy shows the desperate measures people are resorting to to escape the economic hardships exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among the dead are 8 boys, 8 girls, and at least 1 pregnant woman. A seven-year-old child is among one of the survivors rescued from the waters. This tragedy is the second such incident in just over a month involving the loss of life of child migrants and women. In early March 80 migrants including minors were thrown overboard by people smugglers in the same waters. At least 5 and up to 20 people perished. Data from 2021 show that a growing number of refugees and migrants, including increasingly, women and younger children, face the dangers of the sea route to the Arabian Peninsula, but also from the coast of Yemen to Djibouti, despite the risks.

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