At least 70 Ethiopians have drowned after a boat
used by smugglers to transport migrants to
Yemen sank in the Red Sea in rough weather,
according to security authorities in the western
part of Yemen.
The authorities in Taiz province told the
Associated Press news agency on Sunday that
the small boat sank after encountering high
winds and rough seas off al-Makha port.
Human traffickers often use unseaworthy boats
to smuggle African migrants to Yemen, seen as
a gateway to wealthier parts of the Middle East,
such as Saudi Arabia and Oman, and Europe.
They said the boat was carrying 70 people, all of
them Ethiopians.
Tens of thousands of migrants from Africa, the
Middle East and beyond crowd into often unsafe
boats each year and many drown.
In March, at least 42 African migrants drowned
in the Arabian Sea off the southern coast of
Yemen.
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