45 dead after two migrant boats sink off Djibouti

Night rescue of a boat with forty-five migrants. [AFP]

At least 45 people died and "many" others were missing after two migrant boats sank off the coast of Djibouti, the UN's migration agency said Tuesday.

The disaster in the Red Sea off the East African nation was the latest to hit the perilous so-called Eastern Route for migrants from Africa.

The boats had departed from Yemen carrying 310 people, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

"So far 32 survivors... have been rescued," IOM said on X, adding that it was helping with the search and rescue efforts.

Djibouti's coastguard said the tragedy struck some 150 metres off a beach near the northwest Khor Angar region.

It said a joint rescue effort was underway, which began in the "early hours" of Monday, supported by the French navy. It put the number of survivors rescued at 115.

"We remain committed to finding the missing persons and ensuring the safety of the survivors," the agency said in a statement posted on social media, with images of white body bags.

Each year, tens of thousands of migrants brave the Eastern Route from the Horn of Africa, seeking to escape conflict, natural disasters and poor economic prospects by sailing across the Red Sea toward the oil-rich Gulf.

Many try to reach Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab countries where they can find employment as labourers or domestic workers.

Migrants who reach Yemen often encounter danger, as the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country has been mired in civil war for nearly a decade.

Twenty-four people were killed in April off Djibouti when a boat carrying at least 77 migrants including children capsized near the town of Obock.

It was the second fatal maritime accident in two weeks off Djibouti, highlighting a sharp increase in the number of people returning from Yemen to the Horn of Africa nation.

In August, at least 13 people died when their boat capsized off the coast of Yemen's Taez district.

The IOM calls the Eastern Route "one of the busiest, most complex, and dangerous" migration routes in the world.

Many of the migrants who reach Yemen are Ethiopians, with a small proportion of Somalis, according to the UN agency.