Geneva - People smuggling had resumed in the Gulf of Aden
with tragic consequences, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said Friday.
Up to 56 people had died violently trying to make the crossing
from Somalia to Yemen just 10 days after boats began running again at
the end of several stormy months.
Since September 3, UNHCR in Yemen had recorded 12 boats arriving
carrying 925 Somalis, Ethiopians and others. One smugglers' boat
failed to reach shore after encountering problems 100 kilometres
west of Bosaso, Somalia. Around 100 Somalis had managed to make it
back to shore in Somalia after being adrift for six days.
'Many of them had been beaten, and some were reportedly doused
with acid by the smugglers. The bodies of those who did not survive
were thrown overboard,' said UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond.
Refugees arriving in Yemen had told UNHCR officials that 24 people
on their boat had died, three as a result of beatings, 11 who had
been crammed into the hold and 10 who drowned in deep water trying to
reach land. Most had fled fighting in Somalia and violence in Ogaden
in Ethiopia. They had paid between 70 and 150 US dollars for the
crossing.
UNHCR has carried out a series of awareness campaigns to warn
people of the dangers of attempting the crossing.
'The problem is that it is very difficult to deter people who feel
they have nothing left to lose,' said Redmond.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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