21 Somali migrants defy smugglers dead [Archives:2005/887/Local News]

Sana'a, 17 Oct. – Some 21 people are reported to have been killed after a group of Somali migrants on board a boat in the Gulf of Aden rebelled against the people smugglers who were transporting them. According to the Qatari news agency around 50 immigrants were on board the craft, seeking to reach the Gulf countries. When the traffickers tried to force their 'human cargo' overboard, to avoid being intercepted by the Yemeni coast guard, the passengers refused, given the distance from the shore, and the smugglers opened fire.

Despite being unarmed, the immigrants managed to gain possession of some of the smugglers' weapons and in the ensuing battle 21 people – six crew and 15 migrants – were killed.

Last month at least 45 Somalis and Ethiopians died at sea while crossing the Gulf of Aden in an attempt to reach Yemen aboard smugglers' boats from Somalia.

“People are drowning not because they have been denied access to protection or to the territory of Yemen