76 Die, Dozens Missing As Migrant Boat Capsizes Near Yemen

At least 76 people have been killed and dozens are missing after a boat carrying mostly Ethiopian migrants sank off Yemen, in the latest tragedy on the perilous sea route, officials told AFP on Monday.

Yemeni security officials said 76 bodies had been recovered and 32 people rescued from the shipwreck in the Gulf of Aden. The UN’s migration agency said 157 people were on board.

The accident occurred off Abyan governorate in southern Yemen, a frequent destination for boats smuggling African migrants hoping to reach the wealthy Gulf states.

Some of those rescued have been transferred to Yemen’s Aden, near Abyan, a security official said.

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UN agency the International Organization for Migration earlier gave a toll of at least 68 dead.

The IOM’s country chief of mission, Abdusattor Esoev, told AFP that “the fate of the missing is still unknown.”

Despite the civil war that has ravaged Yemen since 2014, the impoverished country has remained a key transit point for irregular migration, in particular from Ethiopia which itself has been roiled by ethnic conflict.

Each year, thousands brave the so-called “Eastern Route” from Djibouti to Yemen across the Red Sea, in the hope of eventually reaching oil-rich Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The IOM recorded at least 558 deaths on the Red Sea route last year, with 462 from boat accidents.

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Last month, at least eight people died after smugglers forced migrants to disembark from a boat in the Red Sea, according to the UN’s migration agency.

The vessel that sank off Abyan was carrying mostly Ethiopian migrants, according to the province’s security directorate and an IOM source.

Yemeni security forces were conducting operations to recover a “significant” number of bodies, the Abyan directorate said on Sunday.

On their way to the Gulf, migrants cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the narrow waterway at the mouth of the Red Sea that is a major route for international trade, as well as for migration and human trafficking.

Once in war-torn Yemen, the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, migrants often face other threats to their safety.

The IOM says tens of thousands of migrants have become stranded in Yemen and suffer abuse and exploitation during their journeys.

In April, more than 60 people were killed in a strike blamed on the United States that hit a migrant detention centre in Yemen, according to the Huthi rebels that control much of the country.

The wealthy Gulf monarchies host significant populations of foreign workers from South Asia and Africa.

AFP

 

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Nigeria And Ghana Hold Talks Over Anti-Nigerians Slogan

    The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu, has appealed for calm, following calls by some Ghanaians for the deportation of Nigerians from the country.

A statement on Thursday by her Special Assistant on Communication and New Media, Magnus Eze, said she spoke during a joint press conference with Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, in Accra, on Wednesday.

She said the viral videos depicting protests had raised concerns in Nigeria, prompting President Bola Tinubu to dispatch her as a special envoy to assess the situation firsthand.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu said, “We are here in the Republic of Ghana on a fact-finding mission as special envoy of President Bola Tinubu as a result of recent disturbances that have made the rounds in Nigeria.

“We are pleased to note that things are rather calm here. Since we arrived, I haven’t seen people burning tyres in the streets or carrying placards everywhere calling for Nigerians to be deported.”

She attributed the calm to the Ghanaian government’s intervention, adding that the fears raised by the videos seemed to have subsided upon assessment of the actual situation.

Odumegwu-Ojukwu reiterated the long-standing relationship between Nigeria and Ghana, cautioning against the spread of inciting content that could escalate tensions between citizens of both countries.

She disclosed that her delegation had met with Ghanaian officials, community leaders, and individuals involved in the situation to ease tensions.

She also called for the institutionalisation of the Nigeria-Ghana Joint Commission to promote stronger bilateral relations and citizen-to-citizen engagement.

In his remarks, Ghana’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Ablakwa, said the government was engaging both Ghanaian citizens and the Nigerian community to address concerns and maintain peace.

“The Ghanaian government will ensure that everyone in the country, citizens and non-citizens, is protected,” he said, adding that residents must also be law-abiding and avoid divisive actions.

He stated that the viral videos were not a true reflection of the situation and disclosed that he had met with the Nigerian accused of attempting to form a kingdom in Ghana, clarifying that territorial intentions were not the motive.

Ablakwa recalled past episodes of diplomatic strain between the two countries, including Ghana’s Aliens Repatriation Order and Nigeria’s 1983 “Ghana Must Go” expulsion, stressing the need for both nations to learn from history and manage relations carefully.

“Regardless of our shared history, if these things are not managed well, it will take us back to certain dark occurrences in our history,” he said.

 

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US Warns Canada Over Palestinian State Recognition

Donald Trump has threatened Canada after it moved to recognise a Palestinian state, reacting to Mark Carney’s announcement by saying that signing a US trade deal would now be “very hard”.

The Canadian prime minister said on Wednesday that if the Palestinian Authority promised to meet certain conditions, including demilitarising and holding elections without Hamas, Canada would join France, the UK and other allies in formally recognising a state of Palestine at the UN general assembly in New York in September.

Portugal said on Thursday it was also considering recognition, and Germany said such a move should come at the end of talks on a two-state solution.

Trump, who had appeared to give tacit approval to the UK prime minster, Keir Starmer, for Britain’s own declaration earlier in the week, has since reacted to the growing movement toward recognising Palestine by doubling down on his support of Israel’s position, saying that doing so “rewards Hamas”.

“The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable,” Carney said in his announcement. He said the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had assured him it could meet the goals he had laid out, but acknowledged that “much has to happen before a democratic viable state is established”.

“The deepening suffering of civilians leaves no room for delaying coordinated international action to support peace, security and the dignity of human life,” Carney said on Wednesday.

Israel has been accused of refusing to allow international organisations to bring aid into Gaza, where dozens of people have starved to death in recent days, with images of emaciated children horrifying the world.

Trump, however, reacted to Carney’s decision by posting on social media: “Wow! Canada has just announced that it is backing statehood for Palestine. That will make it very hard for us to make a Trade Deal with them.”

With many of his supporters increasingly opposing Israel’s war in Gaza, Trump previously criticised the UK’s plan to grant recognition as “rewarding Hamas”, telling journalists on Air Force One that the US was “not in that camp”. Trump also said: “You’re rewarding Hamas if you do that. I don’t think they should be rewarded.”

Trump’s latest broadside at Canada comes amid other attempts to use tariffs as leverage over the domestic and foreign policies of other nations.

He has promised to raise tariffs on Brazil to 50%, linking it to the prosecution of his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro, and recently threatened 15% additional tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, having fallen out with Putin over the war in Ukraine.

Thursday’s announcement of a US trade deal with Thailand and Cambodia also followed Trump’s demand that the two sides end the military skirmishes that broke out last week.

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We Will Recognise Palestinian Statehood Unless - UK

The United Kingdom will recognize Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel takes significant steps to end the "appalling situation" in Gaza and meets other conditions, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said.

"Our goal remains a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state," Starmer said, according to a Downing Street statement.

He said that the UK government has always intended to recognize a Palestinian state "as a contribution to a proper peace process at the moment of maximum impact for the two-state solution," which he said is "now under threat."

"As part of this process towards peace, I can confirm that the UK will recognize the state of Palestine by the United Nations General Assembly in September, unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza," Starmer said.

The UK leader also called on Israel to "agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution."

This includes, Starmer continued, "allowing the UN to restart the supply of aid, and making clear there will be no annexations in the West Bank."

He also reiterated his government's stance on Hamas, the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group that governs the Gaza Strip. 

"Our message to the terrorists of Hamas is unchanged and unequivocal. They must immediately release all the hostages, sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza," Starmer said. 

Amid heightened fears of mass starvation in the enclave, Starmer called for more aid to reach Palestinians in Gaza.

"We need to see at least 500 trucks entering Gaza every day. But ultimately, the only way to bring this humanitarian crisis to an end is through a long-term settlement," Starmer said at 10 Downing Street.

The British leader said his government supports mediation efforts by the US, Egypt and Qatar to secure "a vital ceasefire."

"That ceasefire must be sustainable and it must lead to a wider peace plan, which we are developing with our international partners," he added.

The UK, like the US, EU and Israel, has designated Hamas a terrorist organization, which would likely complicate any potential efforts to recognize a Palestinian state if the group were involved in governing.

Starmer's announcement comes after French President Macron said his country would formally recognize Palestinian statehood in September.

International pressure on Israel to end its military campaign and allow the unrestricted entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged territory has been mounting in recent weeks as aid groups and the UN have warned of a famine in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has either downplayed or outright rejected claims of mass starvation in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Starmer's announcement "rewards Hamas' monstrous terrorism and punishes its victims."

"A jihadist state on Israel's border TODAY will threaten Britain TOMORROW," Netanyahu warned in a post on X.

Israel's Foreign Ministry also rejected the UK's announcement, saying London's shifting position, "following the French move and internal political pressures, constitutes a reward for Hamas and harms efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and a framework for the release of hostages."

 

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