At least 68 migrants have died after a boat with about 157 people on board sank off the coast of Yemen in bad weather.

The vessel capsized off the southern province of Abyan on Sunday, Yemen's chief for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) told the BBC. Twelve people had been rescued, Abdusattor Esoev said, but dozens were still missing.

Most of the victims are believed to be Ethiopian nationals, the IOM said.

Yemen is a major pathway for migrants from the Horn of Africa travelling to Gulf states in search of work. The IOM estimates that hundreds have died or gone missing in shipwrecks in recent months.

Abyan security officials said that a large search-and-rescue mission had been launched and many bodies had been found across a wide area of shoreline.

Mr Esoev said the boat was on a dangerous route in the vast coastal area which is often used by people smugglers. He also emphasised the importance of strengthening legal safeguards for migrants, to prevent them from being exploited by smugglers.

"What we are advocating for all member states… is to enhance their regular pathways so people can take legal ways in order to migrate, instead of being trapped or deceived by smugglers and taking those dangerous journeys," he said.

The IOM previously described the journey from the Horn of Africa - composed of Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea - to Yemen as "one of the busiest and most perilous mixed migration routes". For many the final destination is Saudi Arabia.

In March, two boats carrying more than 180 migrants sank off the coast of Yemen's Dhubab district due to rough seas, with only two crew members rescued.

Migrants arriving at Migrant Response Points in Yemen have also reported people-smugglers becoming more reckless by knowingly sending boats into dangerous conditions to avoid patrols, according to an IOM report.

Despite the risks, many migrants continue to make the trip, with more than 60,000 arriving in Yemen in 2024 alone.

In the past decade, the IOM's Missing Migrants Project recorded more than 3,400 deaths and missing people along the route - 1,400 of those deaths were due to drowning.

Yemen remains engulfed in a devastating civil war which has lasted more than a decade. The Iran-backed Houthi group has controlled much of north-western Yemen since 2014, when they ousted the internationally-recognised government from the capital, Sanaa.