Death toll rises to 150 for smuggled migrants to Yemen [Archives:2006/916/Local News]

SANA'A, Jan. 24 ) At least 150 Somalis and Ethiopians died when their two smuggling boats capsized in Mukala Monday. Yemen's Coast Guard picked up victims' bodies after the boats capsized, rescuing many. Some still are missing.

Salah Al-Asker, Director of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Mayfa'a Refugee Center, said “By this morning, we had extricated 150 dead bodies,” pointing out that this was done in cooperation with local authorities and citizens who already have buried the bodies.

The two boats carrying 256 illegal Somalis and Ethiopians (128 passengers each) sailed from a village near the northeastern Somali port of Boassaso. Al-Asker said only five survived from the first boat, while 46 survived from the second.

UNHCR stated that another boat dropped some 120 people on Jan. 21. Passengers on that voyage reported that 10 people died, four of whom seemingly were thrown overboard.

According to an Ibn Sina Hospital report, smuggled victims died when their boat broke down, not from being deliberately dropped from the boat, as some sources said. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond called for “international action to stem the flow of people falling prey to smugglers.” He also stated that the agency tries hard to reduce the flow of smuggled migrants to the Gulf of Aden. According to the agency, at least 27 boats have arrived at the Yemeni coast since Jan. 12.

Thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians try to come to Yemen every year to escape war and tragic poverty. Currently, there are more than 80,000 registered refugees in Yemen, most of them Somalis. Somalia has been without effective government and experienced tribal wars since 1991, at the time of dictator Mohammed Siad Barre.

Although Yemen's government tries to reduce the number of smuggled migrants, the steps taken are not enough. The Coast Guard Authority stated that plans to combat smuggling have been implemented but resources are not enough.
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