More than 180 irregular refugees are missing and feared dead after two boats they were travelling in capsized in rough seas off Yemen, the International Organisation for Migration said.

The boats were carrying asylum seekers from a Horn of Africa country and capsised off Yemen's Dhubab district in Taiz governorate, IOM said.

The route is often used by Ethiopians hoping to find work in Gulf countries or escape conflict.

"Despite weather warnings, the boats sank in rough seas. Only two Yemeni crew members were rescued, while all passengers and the remaining crew are feared dead, with no bodies recovered yet," IOM spokesperson Tamim Elyan said on Friday.

It is one of the world's most dangerous migrant routes, according to the IOM, which documented more than 60,000 irregular refugee arrivals in Yemen in 2024.

Corridor of tragedy

Earlier on Friday, IOM had said in a post on X that at least 186 people were missing after four boats carrying migrants capsised off the coasts of Yemen and Djibouti overnight, referring to the same incident.

IOM, which runs a tally of migrants who are killed or missing on migration routes, said in the post on X that 558 people lost their lives on the route between the Eastern Horn of Africa and Yemen last year.

Twenty Ethiopians were killed when their boat capsised off Yemen in January.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people leave the Horn of Africa, which is plagued by chronic instability, to pursue better economic prospects in Gulf nations via the so-called Eastern Route, described by the IOM as one of the world's busiest and riskiest migration corridors.

IOM is verifying deeply concerning reports of 186 persons missing after 4 migrant boats capsized off the coasts of #Yemen and #Djibouti last night.

The route between the Eastern Horn of Africa and Yemen has claimed 558 lives in 2024.

Urgent action is needed to save lives! pic.twitter.com/3DTIHGUgnN

— IOM MENA (@IOM_MENA) March 7, 2025