Thirty-five migrants dead, 113 missing

At least 35 migrants were confirmed dead and 113 others missing and presumed dead after making a perilous sea voyage from Somalia to Yemen, a Somali community leader told IRIN on Monday.

The migrants had left from the Somali port of Bossaso and crossed the Gulf of Aden. The bodies of those that died were found at Bir Ali in the southern province of Shabwa.

Sadat Mohammed, Head of Refugee Affairs in the Somali Community in the Yemeni capital, Sana’a, said the incident occurred on 22 March as knife-wielding traffickers forced 450 Somalis and Ethiopians off four boats into stormy seas off the Yemeni coast.

“Two boats, each carrying about 120 passengers, had engine problems, and their owners forced those onboard to disembark. Some of them were shot at, others were beaten when they resisted,” Mohammed said.

“This year will witness horrible tragedies of people crossing the Gulf of Aden to seek refuge in Yemen, especially in the absence of political reconciliation in Somalia,” he said, adding that he expected many more deaths with the advent of bad sailing weather in April.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) also reported the incident on Monday but put the figure of the dead at 29 and the missing at 71.

According to a UNHCR statement, survivors reported that several Ethiopian women and at least one Somali woman were raped and abused by the traffickers during the voyage. They added that some Yemeni security forces had confiscated their money after reaching the shore.

“We are horrified by this latest tragedy. These brutal smugglers care nothing about the fate of the people they prey upon – both refugees and irregular migrants who are desperate to escape persecution, violence and poverty in the Horn of Africa,” said Erika Feller, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, who had just ended a five-day mission to Yemen.

Photo:

A map of Yemen highlighting Bir Ali

Feller said that 293 survivors were taken to UNHCR’s Mayfa’a Reception Centre, where they received medical assistance and other aid.

Horrible year

This incident brought the total number of people who have died trying to reach Yemen by sea this year to 166, according to UNHCR, while many more remain missing. The agency has recorded at least 4,400 people landing on the Yemeni coast in 2007.

On 23 March, UNHCR said in a statement that 1,100 Somalis and Ethiopians had arrived in Yemen since 17 March, and that at least 28 of them had died from asphyxiation, beatings or drowning – and many were badly injured by the smugglers.

“Others are suffering from various skin problems from prolonged contact with sea water, human waste, diesel and other chemicals. They are not allowed to move during the voyage,” the statement added.

During her visit to Yemen, Feller said resources for refugees there were not sufficient and that UNHCR will ask donor countries to raise funds for the country. UNHCR’s annual budget for Yemen is US $4.7 million. It is the second largest annual budget for UNHCR in the Middle East region, after its budget for Iraq.

In 2006, about 26,000 people made the Somalia-Yemen voyage and at least 330 died, according to UNHCR. Another 300 were reported missing and are believed to be dead.

A signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, Yemen is now home to more than 100,000 refugees, most of them Somalis.

maj/ar/ed

see also
Suleiman Hassan, “Now that my parents are both dead I am alone in this world”
Smugglers of Somalis take new sea routes
Afrah Ahmed "I don't know where the suffering ends"
Ismael Mahmud Abdille "I live in a situation worse than before"