UN News Today 11 June 2025 |

At least eight die in Red Sea tragedy as smugglers force migrants overboard

Survivors of a people-smuggling operation in the Red Sea have described being forced off their boat far from the coast of Djibouti and left to swim for their lives.

At least eight people are feared dead and 22 others are missing after smugglers stopped a boat carrying around 150 passengers that was probably bound for Yemen, on 5 June.

“These young people were forced into impossible choices by smugglers who show no regard for human life,” said Celestine Frantz, the UN migration agency’s Regional Director.

Search and rescue operations supported by the IOM, have recovered five bodies from the sea near Moulhoulé in northern Djibouti. The confirmed death toll stands at eight, but it is expected to rise as search efforts continue.

IOM said that in the days following the incident, many of those rescued were found in the desert by mobile patrols. They are receiving urgent medical care at a local hospital and psychosocial support at IOM’s Migrant Response Center in Obock, Djibouti.

Thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa risk their lives every year to reach the Gulf States via Yemen where they hope to find work.

Gaza aid obstacles remain, say UN aid teams in shattered enclave

To Gaza, where the aid situation continues to deteriorate and people are getting hungrier because of the “very limited” volume of food being allowed into the war-torn enclave, humanitarians said on Wednesday.

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that only around 6,000 tonnes of wheat flour have entered Gaza since Israel began to allow in limited supplies in mid-May.

But 10,000 tonnes of flour are needed urgently, insisted OCHA’s Olga Cherevko.

Here she is now, speaking to UN News from Khan Younis:

“The only way to address the situation on the ground is by reopening additional crossings. As well as allowing unlimited and unfettered supply of aid to enter, which includes things that are necessary here that go beyond food, which means things like shelter, fuel, cooking gas, and other necessary elements to sustain life in Gaza.”

The UN aid worker urged the Israeli authorities to make the task of delivering aid easier by “providing a safe and enabling environment”, reducing waiting times for missions and ensuring access to people in need.

World pledged to ban child labour – so why are 138 million kids still working?

The world’s nations made a pledge to end child labour by this year, and yet 138 million youngsters still work today, UN agencies said on Wednesday.

According to new data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 12 million fewer kids are involved in child labour now than in 2020.

“Progress is possible…But we must not be blindsided by the fact that we still have a long way to go,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo.

Echoing that message, UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned that “far too many children continue to toil in mines, factories or fields”.

Often they have to do hazardous work to survive, Ms. Russell added – a reference to the 54 million youngsters who toil in unsafe conditions.

In Madagascar, 12-year-old Tenasoa, who is partially paralyzed by polio, crawls to work at a mine where she collects two kilos of the shiny mineral mica each day . It’s used in the paint and cosmetics industry to add shimmer.

“If we don’t work, we don’t eat,” Tenasoa’s grandfather told UNICEF.

Daniel Johnson, UN News

Music composed and produced by Joachim Harris. All rights reserved.