45 dead after two migrant boats sink off Djibouti: UN

At least 45 people have died after two migrant boats sank off the coast of Djibouti, the UN's migration agency said Tuesday.

"The boats left Yemen with 310 people on board," the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said, adding that many were still missing.

It is the latest disaster on the perilous so-called Eastern Route for migrants from Africa.

Around 32 survivors had been rescued, the IOM said on X, adding that it was helping with the search and rescue efforts.

Each year, tens of thousands of migrants brave the Eastern Route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters or poor economic prospects by sailing across the Red Sea toward the oil-rich Gulf.

Many are trying to reach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries where they can find employment as labourers or domestic workers.

In August, at least 13 people died when their boat capsized off the coast of Yemen's Taez district.

Migrants who reach Yemen often encounter threats to their safety, as the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has been mired in civil war for nearly a decade.