Survivors of a people-smuggling operation in the Red Sea have recounted how they were 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 likely 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 for the East, Horn and Southern Africa. “We are doing everything we can to support the survivors and prevent further loss along this deadly route.”

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.

So far this year, 272 people have been confirmed dead on the Eastern Mediterranean migrant route which includes the Djibouti to Yemen leg. This includes both land and sea routes, according to IOM data.