More than 1,000 African migrants travelled to Yemen in October via sea smuggling routes, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) announced yesterday.

"1,038 migrants entered Yemen," IOM said in a statement, adding: "The migrant caseload has been primarily Ethiopian (93%) and Somalis (7%), with 88% of those tracked heading for Saudi Arabia and 12% towards Yemen. The migrants are predominantly male (82%), with 13% women and 4% boys and 1% girls also among the travellers."

From the beginning of 2020 until 31 October, a total of 34,160 migrants arrived in Yemen from the Horn of Africa, according to UN data.

Yemen has been locked in conflict since 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa, the capital, and then much of the country's north.

Fighting escalated in March 2015 when the Saudi-led coalition intervened to restore the government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi. Concerns have been raised about human rights abuses carried out by both sides of the conflict.