At least 13 people were killed and 14 others were missing after a boat carrying migrants sank off the coast of Yemen's Taiz Governorate, according to what the International Organization for Migration reported on Sunday.

The boat, which departed from Djibouti, was carrying 25 Ethiopian migrants and two Yemenis on board. The organization confirmed that among the victims were 11 men and two women, while search operations for the missing continue, including the Yemeni captain and his assistant. It is not yet clear why the boat sank.

This tragedy comes as part of a series of tragic incidents on the "Eastern Migration Route" through the Red Sea, where thousands of African migrants try every year to reach Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states in search of better economic opportunities. Last June, another boat sank off the coast of Yemen, killing 49 people and leaving dozens missing.

In 2023, the International Organization for Migration recorded the arrival of more than 97,200 migrants to Yemen, a number exceeding what was recorded in the previous year. However, these migrants face great risks in Yemen, which has been suffering from a civil war that has been going on for nearly a decade.

It should be noted that similar drowning incidents occurred in April off the coast of Djibouti, killing dozens, while the number of migrants arriving in Yemen tripled between 2021 and 2023, despite the increasing risks on this perilous route.