Africa: UN - 1,400 Citizen Drowned Off Yemen
Source:
This Day (Lagos)
19 December 2007
Gboyega Akinsanmi With Agency Reports
Lagos
Intensive search conducted by United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed yesterday that nearly 200 African
migrants died in a boat mishap that occurred off Yemen, a Middle East
country through which desperate Africans cross to European countries.
The UN humanitarian institution also noted in a report
released yesterday that more than 1,400 would-be African migrants, mostly
from Somalia, Ethiopia and other countries on the continent had drowned to
death, died off the coast of Yemen this year while making attempts to cross
the Gulf of Aden on rickety boats run by brutal smugglers.
According to the report, the toll includes nearly 200
people believed to have died last weekend after one vessel capsized off the
coast of Yemen and another broke up after hitting a rock. Desperate
passengers had been beaten, pushed overboard and doused with acid on
perilous journeys during 2007, according to aid workers who were trying to
halt further loss of life.
UNHCR spokesperson, Ms Astrid van Genderen Stort, at a
briefing yesterday said: "This has been a tragic year in the Gulf of Aden.
As of now we have statistics that more than 1,400 people have died. These
are the ones that we have recorded, and there might be more."Survivors on
the boat told us that while the sea was rough, the smugglers were even
rougher. They were beating passengers harshly. A male passenger who could
not stand the beating any longer had jumped overboard and drowned before the
accident.
The survivors of the second boat told us that the
traffickers were violent with them during the trip. The passengers were
violently roughed up and one man, who could not bear the beating any longer,
jumped overboard and drowned.
This year has been a particularly tragic year as more
than 1,400 would-be immigrants died in their dangerous Gulf of Aden journey
to Yemen. Most of the victims were Somalis or Ethiopians trying to flee
conflict or economic hardships in their countries," she said.
Genderen said the number of boats leaving Somalia rose
in September and October, due to insecurity in the Horn of Africa country,
but has dropped since as a result of more frequent patrols by the Yemeni
security operatives and coast guard.
Relief partners warned people on the continent about
the dangers of the journey. But many of those fleeing, according to the
relief partners, say conditions in their homeland are so bad that they have
nothing left to lose and are willing to take the risk.
Geneva-based relief agency also said some 28,300
people leaving Northern Somalia, mainly Somalis and Ethiopians, had made it
to Yemen's shores on 300 boats this year alone while nearly 29,000 made it
last year. At least, 328 died and 310 went missing.
Mr. Louise Arbour, a top United Nations human rights
official, said yesterday at the International Migrants Day that Yemen had
been an route for desperate Africans to escape armed hostilities, deepening
poverty and social miseries threatening their lives and futures.
He added that ìmany Africans consider Yemen a gateway
to other parts of the Middle East and the West.î He said those seeking
refuge or work abroad often all prey to abuse.
"Migrants are among the groups most exposed to human
rights violations in the 21st century and will continue to be so if we do
not act now with serious determination," Arbour said in a statement marking
International Migrants Day yesterday.
Reuters however reported that aid agencies ìare
stepping up their information campaigns for migrants and asylum seekers,
warning them of the dangers on the journey from Bossasso, a major human
smuggling hot-spot in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland administration.
In the latest incident which occurred last Sunday, a
boat with 270 people aboard hit a rock off Yemen while the smugglers tried
to avoid the coast guard. At least 173 people made it to shore after the
vessel broke into three pieces, but many were feared drowned.