ADDIS ABABA, June 7 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Migration Agency (IOM) said 46 Ethiopian migrants had drowned and 16 others remain missing, "presumed dead" while they were travelling to cross the Gulf of Aden.
The incident happened while at least 100 migrants crammed onto a smuggler's boat that left the port of Bossaso, Somalia, on June 5.
The migrants who are said to be Ethiopians, 83 men and 17 women, were travelling through the night across the Gulf of Aden to find employment in Yemen and the Gulf region, when their vessel capsized in high waves as it approached its destination in the early hours of Thursday, according to the statement.
The tragedy occurred amid IOM's recent call for concerted efforts to halt the life-threatening journey of "short but treacherous Gulf of Aden."
According to IOM, more than 7,000 migrants take the "perilous journey" every month. The number of migrants that had used the route last year had also reached 100,000.
"They are treated appallingly and go through horrendous conditions. This has to end," the statement read.
Earlier this week IOM announced its support to 101 Ethiopian migrants to leave Yemen as clashes grew closer to the area. The migrants were brought to Djibouti.
The UN migration agency also indicated that migrants, while travelling to and in Yemen, are routinely abused by smugglers and other criminals, which include physical and sexual abuse, torture for ransom, arbitrary detention for long periods of time, forced labor and even death.
