Djibouti coast-guard officers last week rescued 141 migrants within the waters of Seven Brothers Islands in northern parts of the country, an official source told Xinhua on Sunday.

According to the source, a Yemeni dhow in distress for 48 hours was spotted in the zone at around 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, with 141 migrants most of whom were facing an alarming health situation.

After having received first aid, the migrants, most of them from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, were immediately handed over to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Their smugglers were taken into police custody and their boat seized.

Djibouti is the main route for illegal migrants heading to the Gulf countries. According to IOM, about 75 to 80 percent of these migrants who arrive in Yemen every year, pass through Djibouti in very dangerous conditions, and continually pose humanitarian challenges for Djibouti authorities.

In 2011, IOM opened a migrant's holding center in Djibouti's northern town of Obock, to sensitize them on the risks and dangers of illegal migration.