Puntland to crack down on boat people

The authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on Thursday said they would crack down on people trying to go to Yemen by boat.

Colonel Abdirazaq Afgadud, the Bari region (Bosaso area) police chief, told IRIN the decision comes after a boat carrying 115 people sank off the coastline of Puntland earlier this month, with most of the people feared dead. "Only 30 survived," he said.

He said the authorities were mounting a campaign to stop any boats leaving the Puntland coast. "From now on we will do all in our power to stop these boats," he said.

He added that his forces had so far impounded three boats and arrested the owners and crew. One individual was in custody in connection with the incident and "is being interrogated".

UNHCR spokeswoman Kitty Mckinsey told IRIN that so far 23 people are known to have survived the incident. Survivors told UNHCR that the boat left the Somali coast on 4 January and capsized on the same day, after a fire in the engine room caused panic and people moved to the front of the vessel causing it to keel over.

Puntland's deputy Information Minster Abdishakur Mire Adan said the region needed help in containing the problem of boat people.

"Those who arrange these trips are organised criminal gangs who prey on people seeking a better life or who are escaping from violence at home," he said. Passengers are charged about US $300 for the trip, and often the boats are in poor condition.

"The Puntland coastline is very long and we don't even have the boats to patrol or intercept the traffickers," Abdishakuur pointed out. Furthermore the police needed training in dealing with this kind of situation. "We want to save lives but we cannot do it alone. We need help," he told IRIN.

The vast majority of the people who died in the incident were from southern Somalia. "Most came from Mogadishu, Bay and Bakol regions," Abdishakur said.

Since the collapse of Somalia’s central government in 1991, many Somali refugees and illegal immigrants have died at sea.