IOM: Migrant Fatalities Surge 65% on East Africa-Yemen Route in 2025

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that 922 migrants died along the Eastern Migration Route connecting the Horn of Africa to Yemen and the Gulf States during 2025, marking one of the deadliest years on this perilous global corridor.

According to a new report released by the organization, this figure represents a significant 65% increase in fatalities compared to the previous year, 2024, when 558 migrant deaths were recorded on the same route. This escalation establishes 2025 as the bloodiest year on this specific migratory path for the third consecutive year.

The report specified that all individuals who perished in 2025 along this route were of Ethiopian nationality. A substantial portion of these deaths occurred during three separate mass drowning incidents, each claiming the lives of over 180 people.

Globally, the IOM documented a total of at least 7,667 deaths or disappearances across all migration routes worldwide in 2025. This global toll included 2,185 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea, over 2,078 fatalities in Asia, 1,214 deaths on the West Africa route across the Atlantic toward the Canary Islands, and 409 fatalities in the Americas.

The persistent human toll across international migration routes underscores the expanding operations of human trafficking and migrant smuggling networks, the report noted. It emphasized the urgent necessity of establishing safer migration pathways and bolstering protection measures for all mobile populations.

The IOM issued a formal call for the dismantling of smuggling networks that exploit vulnerable migrants and place their lives at extreme risk. The organization stressed that saving lives on migration routes is a shared global responsibility requiring sustained political will and policies centered on migrant protection, irrespective of their legal status.