An Ethiopian laissez-passer belonging to a returnee lays on a blanket at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) transit centre in Addis Ababa on November 25, 2023, the day after 86 migrants made their way back to Ethiopia from Djibouti. The so-called "Eastern Route" is one of the world's busiest smuggling routes, perilous and sometimes fatal, with migrants crossing scorching desert, rough seas and active war zones in search of economic opportunity. The journey takes migrants, mainly Ethiopians, from the Horn of Africa across the Gulf of Aden to war-torn Yemen. From there they traverse vast stretches of hostile territory in the hope of reaching Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and finding work. Most don't make it. (Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP)