Despite a nearly decade-long civil war, Yemen is a major route for migrants from East Africa and the Horn of Africa trying to reach Gulf countries for work, with hundreds of thousands attempting the route each year.

CAIRO -- The UN says 2 people are dead and at least 186 missing after 4 migrant boats capsized off Yemen and Djibouti.

Two boats carrying over 180 migrants capsized off the coast of Yemen’s Dhubab district in Ta’iz Governorate on Thursday, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s field reports.

Over the past decade, at least 2,082 migrants have disappeared along the same route, including 693 known to have drowned, according to the International Organization for Migration. Some 380,000 migrants are currently in Yemen.