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Another 132 dead
in Gulf of Aden over weekend
(Yemen,
January 22,
2008 Ceegaag Online)
The deadly
traffic in the Gulf of Aden continues unabated, with 132
people dying last weekend and a total of 157 people dead
or missing during the first 19 days of 2008. A total of
2,452 boat people were recorded arriving in
Yemen during the same period. Most of them were
from
Somalia.
On the
18th of January a boat carrying 135 passengers approached
the coast of
Yemen. Seeing lights ashore and fearing capture by
the Yemeni Coast Guard, the smugglers ordered passengers
to jump overboard. Those who resisted were beaten with
sticks and stabbed. A large wave then capsized the boat,
causing the death of 114 passengers and two smugglers.
On 19
January 10 women and six children – part of a group of 29
Somalis aboard a two-engine smuggling boat – drowned when
strong winds capsized the boat beside the coast of
Yemen. They had left
Somalia four days earlier and encountered engine
problems. The 13 male survivors told us that four children
had died under their parents' eyes from lack of food,
water and exposure. The other two drowned.
The three
smugglers allegedly ran away and have so far not been
found. In recent weeks, two smuggling boats have been
intercepted by the Yemeni Coastguard. Patrols and
crack-downs have increased in an attempt to deter the
smugglers and save lives. Some boats used by the smugglers
had been given to Somali fishermen by international aid
agencies after the Tsunami disaster in 2005.
The new
arrivals said they paid US $150 for their trip to
Yemen. They stated they had left
Somalia due to violence in the Mogadishu region,
the continuing hostilities between government forces and
insurgents. The survivors said an increasing number of
civilians are killed by heavy artillery.
UNHCR has
been calling for increased action to save lives in the
Gulf of Aden and other waters. Over the past year, UNHCR
has stepped up its work in
Yemen under a US$7 million operation that includes
additional staff, more assistance, provision of additional
shelter for refugees in Kharaz refugee camp, and training
programmes for the coastguard and other officials.
In
addition, we are expanding our presence along the remote,
300-km coastline with the opening of two additional field
offices in early 2008. UNHCR is also working closely with
NGOs such as MSF, which has mobile clinics that can work
at arrival points along the coast.
On the
Somali side, UNHCR and other partners have set up
information projects to warn people of the dangers. We
have also increased our presence and are providing
assistance and the possibility to seek asylum on the
Somali side of the Gulf of Aden. But many of those fleeing
say conditions in their homeland are so bad that they are
willing to take the risk. In 2007 alone, more than 29,500
people arrived on the shores of
Yemen while over 1,400 people died or remained
missing – presumed dead – while making the hazardous
journey.
Source:
UNHCR
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