42 Migrants Drown Off the Coast of Djibouti, East Africa
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that in a desperate attempt to get home, 42 migrants drowned in an unsafe vessel as they attempted to travel from Yemen to Djibouti. At least 16 children, 8 boys and 8 girls were among the dead. This is the second similar tragedy in just over a month. People of the area are desperate for work and risk their lives as well as their families' lives in the attempt to travel from countries like Somalia and Ethiopia through Djibouti and Yemen in search for work. The constant conflict in Yemen has left many migrants living in horrible condition, "without access to food, shelter, medical care and security," said IOM.
Even though most of these migrants started this dangerous trek, desperate for work, they still want to return home to help those that they have left behind. Unscrupulous human smugglers take advantage of these desperate people, charging them steep prices, often for boats that are unseaworthy. In Yemen more than 6,000 migrants have registered for Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) assistance to get home. Monthly, the numbers of those desperate to get home to Ethiopia and Somalia increases.
The IOM and VHR to work together to find creative, humanitarian ways to help these migrants find work to support their families as well as to secure safe means of travel (The Bible, Isaiah 58:7).
Local Christian Believers in the area to participate in offering assistance and aid, and at the same time to bear witness to the saving power of Jesus Christ (The Bible, James 5:16).
God to bring blessings and hope to these desperate people trying to survive and feed and clothe their families (The Bible, Psalm 9:18).
42 migrants dead after boat from Yemen capsizes off Djibouti coast
Photo Credit: Jametlene Reskp, Unsplash.com