The News

Up to 50 Migrants ‘Deliberately Drowned’ Off Yemen, UN Says 

The News

Migrants and refugees are assisted by members of the Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms, as they crowd on board of a rubber boat sailing out of control at 21 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. European Union leaders are poised to take a big step on Friday in closing off the illegal migration route from Libya across the central Mediterranean, where thousands have died trying to reach the EU, the EU chief said. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

JOHANNESBURG – The U.N. migration agency says up to 50 migrants from Somalia and Ethiopia have been “deliberately drowned” when a smuggler forced them into the sea off Yemen’s coast.

The International Organization for Migration statement calls the incident “shocking and inhumane.” It says staffers found the shallow graves of 29 of the migrants on a beach in Shabwa during a routine patrol.

The statement says the smuggler forced more than 120 migrants into the sea Wednesday morning as they approached Yemen’s coast.


The narrow waters between the Horn of Africa and Yemen have been a popular migration route despite Yemen’s ongoing conflict.

The statement says staffers provided aid for 27 surviving migrants who remained on the beach, while other migrants left. The agency says 22 migrants are missing.