3 immigrants killed while crossing the Gulf of Aden [Archives:2006/947/Local News]

SANA'A, May 16 ) Three Ethiopians was reported to have been killed while traveling to Yemen earlier this week, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

The three victims are believed to have been beaten to death by the boat crew and their bodies were thrown overboard during the voyage. “This is yet another example of the extreme cruelty of the Somali smugglers, who seem to have no regard for human life and are only interested in making money” said UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond addressing journalists at the UN complex in Geneva on Tuesday.

The victims were among 335 Somalia and Ethiopians onboard of two boats arrived over the weekend in Yemen from Somalia. The two boats left Shimbarale in Somalia on May 13 and arrived Yemen late at the same day. Only 35 people made it to the UNCR reception center in Mayfaa in southern Yemen, Redmond said. “We don't know whereabouts of the remaining 300, but we are closely monitoring the situation on the ground,” he added.

UNHCR says that not all new arrivals come to its reception center. Many decide to travel to anther destinations if they survive the journey across the Gulf of Aden. “The group who arrived at our reception told harrowing stories of their voyage across the Gulf.”

Several hundred people have died while attempting to make the crossing. From September of last year until last month, a total of 241 boats arrived from Somalia in Yemen, an average of 30 boats a month. Several hundred people died during these trips, although an exact figure was unavailable, UNHCR said.

Smugglers, fearing capture by the Yemeni Coast Guard (YCG), sometimes throw passengers overboard before the boats reach the shore. “The seas are infested with sharks