According to the International Organization of Migration, the route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen is one of the busiest – and deadliest – in the world. Hoping to find work in the oil-rich Gulf states, thousands of Africans, many from Ethiopia, risk their lives on perilous sea journeys. 

But despite the high number of deaths each year, the route garners less media attention than other migratory flows.

Thousands of Africans travel from Djibouti to Yemen across the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden every year, hoping to reach Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia to work as labourers or domestic workers.

The Eastern route is one of the world's most dangerous, according to the International Organization of Migration (IOM), which documented at least 558 deaths in 2024, including 462 from shipwrecks.

Overall, the United Nations agency estimates that 3,400 people have died using this route over the past 10 years.

On Sunday a boat carrying nearly 200 people sank off the Yemeni coast, killing more than 90 of them, with some still missing.

Ethiopia's permanent mission in Geneva responded by urging its citizens to "avoid irregular routes".

The IOM said that it was "working with partners to mobilise resources and deliver humanitarian assistance to protect people on the move, as well as to support the government to respond to migration crisis".

In March, at least 180 people were reported missing off the Yemeni coast, the majority of them from Ethiopia.

Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM's head of mission in Yemen, told RFI that: "A network of cross-border smugglers exploits the desperation of people who need better jobs and better opportunities."

Lack of interest

The IOM estimates that 60,000 people landed in Yemen in 2024 alone.

Marina de Regt, an anthropologist at the Free University of Amsterdam who specialises in migration in this region, agrees that "the numbers are enormous". 

"In many cases, migrants pay and don't even know they have to cross the sea and then go through Yemen before arriving in Saudi Arabia," she said.

She is concerned about the lack of interest shown by the international community in this busy and dangerous migratory route.

"These migrations between countries in the South are not considered important by political decision-makers, particularly in Europe. All that matters to [them] is that the migrants do not end up on [their] territory."

She explains why Ethiopians represent the highest number of people trying to reach the Persian Gulf countries, saying: "Ethiopia is going through a very difficult time. The Tigray War (2020-2022) is over, but instability persists and there is a lot of poverty."

Caught in conflict

Crossing the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden in rickety boats isn't the only danger for migrants making the journey. In Yemen, a country gripped by civil war, they face an increased risk of violence.

"In addition to the war situation, which results in a lack of food and great insecurity, the exploitation of migrants and refugees is common," said de Regt. "People are sometimes kidnapped by gangs and migrant women are sexually exploited by criminals."

Last April, East African migrants also found themselves caught up in the military escalation between the United States and Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Sixty-eight people were killed and dozens more injured in US strikes on a migrant detention centre in Sanaa, a rebel stronghold.

In 2023, the NGO Human Rights Watch revealed that Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the border between Yemen and Saudi Arabia, between March 2022 and June 2023.

"The guards at the checkpoints shoot randomly at migrants trying to cross. Crossing the Saudi border is a very risky undertaking," said de Regt.

While some manage to find work in Saudi Arabia, many migrants remain in a precarious situation, at risk of arrest and deportation.

"Sometimes men are deported to Ethiopia – but they start again, even though they know how risky the journey is," she said. "They will start again because they are desperate."