Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Somalia

More Somali migrants drown off Yemeni coast

[Yemen] Small fishing boats, like this one in Bossaso'o busy commercial port, carry up to 125 people when used to smuggle migrants from the Somali coast across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. Smugglers charge $30 to $50 and sometimes throw their passengers out UNHCR/K.McKinsey
The fishermen are asking for help to get rid of illegal ships.
    DUBAI

    Forty-five Somali migrants drowned when their boat capsized 95 km away from Mukalla Port on the coast of Yemen on 28 February, Yemeni authorities said.



    • Read more reports on Somalis in Yemen



    The boat was carrying 45 migrants from Somalia, one from Ethiopia and three Somali smugglers, the ministry of interior said in a statement. The three smugglers and Ethiopian migrant somehow managed to reach the shore safely where the smugglers were arrested and questioned by local authorities.



    This is the second smuggling boat to approach the Yemeni coast in a week. On 24 February, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said six Africans had drowned and another 11 went missing after smugglers pushed migrants overboard in deep waters off the Yemeni coast.



    "We are concerned that this trend might continue through 2009. In 2008, more than 50,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, straining UNHCR's capacity and resources," UNHCR said.



    dvh/ar/ed

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join