An international security initiative is urgently needed in the Red Sea region to curb human trafficking, experts and officials said.

The call for action comes after about 100 people died when a boat carrying about 150 migrants capsized off Yemen’s coast this month, drawing renewed attention to irregular migration.

The civil war in Yemen since 2014 has not only created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises but has also brought migration to its shores, as migrants hope to cross and find work in neighbouring Gulf states.

Migrants often sail from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Sudan, where violence has driven thousands to flee, making the route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen one of the busiest and deadliest in the world.

Last year, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) recorded 446,000 movements along the Eastern Route, 10 per cent of which were by children. It is known that on the route, migrants are often subject to life-threatening conditions, including starvation and dehydration.

Since January 2025, at least five boat capsizes have been reported in Yemeni waters, Abdusattor Esoev, the IOM Yemen chief of mission, told The National.

In the past decade, at least 1,098 migrants drowned at sea off Yemen, while in 2025, 378 such deaths were recorded, including the latest incident.

“The migrant crisis in Yemen is a crisis within a crisis, in which migrants are exposed to various protection risks,” explained Mr Esoev. “In 2024, more than 60,000 migrants have arrived on Yemen’s shores,” he added.