One can only imagine the fear felt by those aboard the migrant vessel that capsized off the coast of southern Yemen on Sunday. The craft, which was carrying 200 people, mostly Ethiopians, sank in the Gulf of Aden as a result of heavy seas and strong winds as it headed to Abyan governorate. According to the International Organisation for Migration, at least 90 people died and dozens more are missing.
The shipwreck is the deadliest on the route east of the Horn of Africa since the IOM began collecting data in 2014, according to figures analysed by The National. It is dispiriting to think that it takes a tragedy of this magnitude to draw more international attention to the dangers of irregular migration across the Red Sea. Nevertheless, Sunday’s incident is a poignant reminder that so long as peace and stability elude Yemen, more migrants will die on their way there or face violence and abuse even if they make it.
Abyan governorate, where the ill-fated boat was travelling to on Sunday, is a microcosm of the Yemeni conflict. For years, the region was fought over by different armed factions. Such fighting and accompanying political fragmentation fuelled poverty and unemployment – neither of which are unusual in the Middle East’s poorest country. In its response to Sunday’s deaths, the IOM called for more effective search-and-rescue operations as well as accountability for smugglers and traffickers. But given Yemen’s impoverished state as well as its division into different zones of influence, the possibility of achieving such goals right now seems remote.
This is not a new problem. In June 2021 another boat travelling to the country from the Horn of Africa capsized, resulting in the death of at least 25 migrants. Two months before, a fire in a Sanaa detention facility run by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis – conditions in which were described by the IOM as “inhuman” and “unsafe” – killed dozens of migrants and injured at least 170. Survivors of the March 8 blaze told The National that Houthi guards started the fire following a protest about appalling living conditions.
It is difficult to think of a more vulnerable group than irregular migrants in Yemen, the vast majority of whom regard the country as a transit point on their journey northwards. Although the local population has endured years of war and poverty, there is a substantial amount of documented evidence that describes the physical, psychological and sexual abuse suffered by migrants at the hands of criminals taking advantage of lawlessness caused by the Houthis and years of war.
The international community can no longer remain indifferent to Yemen’s predicament, particularly as it relates to African migrants fleeing war and poverty in their home countries. The best way to help such people is to restore stability to Yemen and build the country’s capacity to tackle such challenges.
Restarting a moribund talks process would be a good start and the conditions are right for such a development. The UN’s special envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said in July that such a possibility existed and Iran – the Houthis’ main backer – is dealing with its own challenges. The overall level of fighting within the country has subsided, possibly opening up the space for a rejuvenated political process.
However, without a framework for peace, stability and development, it will be a relatively small number of NGOs that will be left fighting to hold the line on a humanitarian crisis that can and should be managed better and eventually resolved.
