Five bodies had been sighted and 50 other boat migrants were still missing and "presumed dead," a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM,) the UN-affiliated agency based in Geneva said on Thursday. More than 180 people were forced off a boat trafficking migrants near Shabwa province, southern Yemen. Most of them are seeking to travel on from Yemen to oil-rich Gulf states in search of work. Crossing the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea is particularly dangerous because of strong currents and high winds. Despite the conflict, migrants still seek transit through Yemen, often toward its land border with Saudi Arabia.

Source: Ethiopian News August 10, 2017 12:56 UTC