ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – The bodies of 10 migrants washed up on the coast of Djibouti on the Horn of Africa, the U.N. migration agency said on Thursday.
The incident occurred in the town of Obock, where there have been regular departures of boats packed with migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, trying to reach Yemen, or trying to make their way back to their home country.
Thousands of Saudi-bound Ethiopian migrant workers cross Yemen each month. But restrictions aimed at curbing the rapid spread of COVID-19 in war-ravaged Yemen have made the journey even more perilous, forcing many to turn back.
Earlier this month eight migrants died and 12 went missing at sea after being forced off a boat by smugglers off the Arabian Sea coast of Djibouti.
To date over 14,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa stuck in Yemen are trying to make their way back to their home country. In the last three weeks alone, 2,000 arrived in Djibouti, according to the IOM.
(Reporting by Giulia Paravicini; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
