Smugglers force 300 migrants into the sea near Yemen

The United Nations migration agency on Thursday said human smugglers off the coast of Yemen forced up to 300 migrants into the sea, drowning at least 55. The agency said Wednesday up to 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants drowned after the smugglers in charge of their boat forced 120 migrants into the sea. Lauren de Boeck, the UN mission chief for Yemen, said witnesses told agency staff the smuggler pushed them out when he saw some “authority types” near the coast of Shabwa, a Yemeni governorate. The agency said smugglers pushed another 180 migrants off a boat on Thursday, based on witness accounts. Rescuers recovered five bodies but another 50 remain missing. The International Organization of Migration said some 55,000 migrants have left the Horn of Africa for Yemen since the start of this year. “The suffering of migrants on this migration route is enormous,” de Boeck said in a statement. “Too many young people pay smugglers with the false hope of a better future.”