"No paradise in Yemen", prospective refugees told

At least 30 refugees seeking a new life in Yemen are feared to have drowned after being forced to jump into the sea from a boat near the Yemeni coast. The boat had earlier left the coastal village of Marer, 10 km south of Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, a survivor told IRIN by telephone from Yemen on Wednesday. Ahmad Adan said the boat had been carrying 85 passengers, including 10 women and a two-year-old child. The 24-year-old from Wanle Weyne in southern Somalia's Lower Shabelle region said that as they neared the Yemeni coast, the boat crew started forcing people to jump. "Three miles off the coast, they started forcing people into the water, at gunpoint," he said. "Those who tried to refuse were beaten badly and then thrown overboard. Many of those who jumped did not even know how to swim." Husayn Haji Ahmad, the acting Somali consul-general in Aden, said so far 38 people had been found alive. "Local fishermen picked up some of the 35 men and three women, while others swam to the shore," he told IRIN. "The bodies of 13 dead passengers were also recovered." He said it was not clear whether those missing were dead or still on the boat. "Some of the passengers are known to have refused to jump, telling the crew to kill them first, so they may still be on board, which is what we are hoping for," he said. This is the latest a series of similar incidents which have claimed the lives of hundreds of Somalis trying to find a better life in Yemen and the Gulf states, Husayn noted. "In 2002, we estimated that 950 people drowned while trying to reach Yemen and Gulf destinations," he told IRIN. "So far this year, the death toll from this type of incident stands at 250, excluding this one." "There is no paradise here," he warned. "They will not find a better life, only death at sea and broken dreams. They will be better off staying put." The fate of the captain and crew members is uncertain. "The boat and its crew have not been found," he said. "They are probably trying to evade the Yemeni coastal security forces." Most of the passengers on the doomed vessel were from southern Somalia, "mostly young people, as well as some Ethiopians", Ali Sidow, another survivor, told IRIN. Most of them had paid up to US $500 each for the voyage to Yemen, from where they hoped to move on to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states in search of work, he added.