A four months infant survived while his mother drowned
borkena
Toronto – The International Organization For Migration (IOM) this week had announced that at least 45 migrants were dead and 111 others missing after they were forced to disembark from the boat as they were returning from Yemen to Djibouti.
The accident involved two boats and occurred near the coast of Obock, near Godoria, according to the source.
Survivors from the accident are cited as saying “the first boat carried 100 migrants while the second had 210 on board all returning to Djibouti from Yemen. Migrants were forced by the Yemenite boat operators to disembark in the open sea and swim. One woman drowned, but her 4-month-old infant survived along with 98 others from the first boat.” The smugglers are said to be behind it.
However, the report did not say where the migrants were from.
BBC Amharic on Thursday reported that it has confirmed from IOM sources that all the victims from the latest boat accident tragedy were from Ethiopia. Sead, Assistant counselor of IOM Djibouti, is cited as saying that those who were returning from Yemen to Djibouti were Ethiopians.
Search efforts have been underway to locate over 100 migrants who were reported missing. Djibouti Coast Guard was involved in the search and rescue operation, according to the IOM report.
At the time of reporting by IOM on Wednesday, as many as 55 missing migrants were rescued, and getting medical and psychological support.
From the first boat 98 migrants survived along with a fourth month old infant whose mother drowned in the accident. According to a BBC Amharic report, a total of 197 migrants survived the accident and are currently in Djibouti getting medical support.
The IOM report indicates that over 1,300 migrant deaths linked to drowning have been recorded since 2014. The number recorded between January and August this year is 337.
There has been a recurring incident of boat accidents involving Ethiopian Migrants for over a decade now.
Human trafficking has been a persistent problem in Ethiopia in recent years and the government does not seem to be successful in terms of combating it.
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Migrant Boat *accident *victims from this week are all Ethiopians : report
least 45 migrants were dead and 111 others missing after they were *forced to disembark* from the boat as they were returning from Yemen to Djibouti.
Migrants were* forced* by the Yemenite boat operators to disembark in the open sea and swim