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UN: 107 die after boat capsizes
17/02/2007 11:21 - (SA)
Geneva - The number of Somali and Ethiopian migrants who died trying to reach the Arabian peninsula earlier this week had reached 107, said the United Nations refugee agency on Friday.
Ron Redmond, spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), said five people were still missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Yemen.
According to witnesses, the boat sank leaving migrants drifting in high seas.
Another vessel dumped all of its passengers overboard so that it could pick up the organisers of the operation and escape back across the Gulf of Aden.
Redmond told reporters in Geneva: "The people were in the water for several hours before the Yemeni military came to their rescue."
Many bodies have since washed up on Yemen's shores, he said.
So far, 107 bodies have been confirmed buried. More than half of the migrants made it to safety.
The tragedy highlights the plight of thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians who try to escape to the Arabian peninsula each year, many hoping to reach Europe.
UNHCR says that more than 27 000 fled last year and several hundred died making the perilous crossing.
Conditions on the smugglers' vessels are particularly poor. Witnesses have previously reported people being thrown overboard.
Yemen has recently increased coastal patrols, forcing smugglers to make the journey across the Gulf of Aden by night, making it more dangerous.
Many of the survivors from this week's capsizing said they were fleeing violence in Somalia, where government forces recently battled the Council of Islamic Courts with the help of troops from neighbouring Ethiopia.
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