A boat carrying dozens of illegal African migrants heading to Yemen coast was intercepted before reaching coastline, according to local sources.
The sources added that Yemeni Coast Guard patrol in territorial waters seized the boat, which was carrying 164 illegal migrants, including 37 women, coming from the Horn of Africa.
The migrants were detained in preparation for returning them to their country according to the legal procedures and the boat crew of 3 people were arrested in preparation for their trial.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reported that 15,400 illegal immigrants arrived from the Horn of Africa to Yemen during last January, and that this number represents a 25 percent decrease from the total number reported in December 2024, when more than 20,000 immigrants arrived to the country.
According to IOM, the majority of migrants (89 percent) came from Djibouti ports and arrived to Dhubab district in Taiz governorate near Bab al-Mandab, numbering 13,642 migrants, while the rest (11 percent) arrived to the coasts of Shabwa governorate, east of Aden, coming from Somali ports.
UN data reported that the total number of illegal migrants to Yemen during 2024 amounted to about 76,297 people, most of them were Ethiopian nationals (98 percent), while only 2 percent were Somali nationals. 21 percent of them were children, 22 percent were women, and 57 percent were men