At least 27,800 people have crossed from the Horn of Africa to war-torn Yemen in the first five months of 2022, more than the total who made the journey all of last year along what was the world's busiest maritime migration route prior to COVID-19, according to the International Organization for Migration's (OIM) Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM).
IOM last year reported that an estimated 27,700 migrants entered Yemen through the so-called Eastern Route, down from 138,000 in 2019 due to heightened COVID-19 mobility restrictions. Approximately 37,500 made the journey in 2020.
The rise in arrivals is cause for alarm in a country now grappling with its eighth year of conflict.
"We are increasingly concerned about the safety and well-being of people moving through Yemen," said Christa Rottensteiner, IOM Yemen's Chief of Mission. "Our teams meet migrants every day who have been injured in the conflict or become stranded on their journeys."
