dpa
Cairo
Only four survivors have been found after a boat carrying 45 refugees and migrants capsized off the coast of Yemen, the United Nations refugee agency said on Thursday.
The boat capsized near the south-western city of Taiz on Wednesday night “due to strong winds and overloading,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Yemen wrote on X.
“Only 4 survivors found. This highlights the perilous journeys between Yemen & Africa,” it added.
The UNHCR said it was working with the International Organization for Migration and other partners to assist the survivors.
Each year, thousands of migrants from East African countries such as Ethiopia and Somalia make the dangerous crossing to Yemen in boats.
Most travel on towards wealthier Gulf states like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in search of work, but many become trapped in difficult conditions in war-torn Yemen.
The country has been devastated by a brutal civil war, which emerged in 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi rebels rose up against the government in the capital Sana’a.
The situation in Yemen has further escalated amid the current conflict in Gaza.
Houthi militants have repeatedly attacked ships in the Red Sea in an attempt to force an end to Israel’s military campaign, which followed the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Houthis have also traded direct fire with Israel, saying on Sunday they had attacked “important targets” in the country one day after the Israeli military confirmed strikes in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah.
