11 Ethiopian migrants died in a traffic accident in Somalia’s northern Puntland state, the United Nations, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) disclosed on Friday.
In a statement, the IOM said the deadly traffic accident which happened on Tuesday evening near the Puntland regional capital, Bosaso injured 20 other Ethiopian migrants.
According to the IOM, the migrants were being transported by smugglers and heading to Bosaso city with the intention of crossing the Gulf of Aden to Yemen when the truck they were traveling in overturned.
Its estimated thousands of Ethiopians are trafficked to countries in the Arabian Peninsula via Djibouti and Somalia risking detentions and murders along the way.
With economic opportunities scarce and political repression high in their home country, many Ethiopians prefer to risk their lives for a better life in African, European and Middle Eastern countries.
