Thousands of Yemenis are taking to the Red Sea in boats, bound for Djibouti's shores after bombs and gunfire cut off every route to safety.
The Horn of Africa is once again a lifeline. Several thousand Yemenis have crossed the Red Sea to Djibouti, escaping a war that has left them with nowhere else to go. With overland routes to safety blocked, boats have become the only way out for families running from gunfire, bombing and a worsening humanitarian situation.
For fisherman Abubaker Saeed, the turning point came at sea. Out on the water off Yemen's coast last month, he saw explosions in the distance and thought immediately of his wife and two children. He raced back to his home village of al-Wahijah, knowing the danger was closing in on the people he loved most.
The blasts he saw were airstrikes. Aircraft from the Saudi-led coalition, which backs Yemeni government forces, were hitting areas near the village. Their targets were fighters from the Iran-aligned Houthi militia, who were advancing on the nearby port city of Mocha. In a matter of hours, a coastline that families had always depended on for their living became a front line.
Now the same sea that fed these communities is carrying them to another continent. The crossing to Djibouti ties Yemen's crisis to the Horn of Africa, a region that has long shared people, trade and history with the Arabian Peninsula. As the fighting rages on, the pressure on those shores, and on the families making the journey, is only growing.
