Six people drowned and 11 others are presumed dead after smugglers forced the passengers overboard in deep water off Yemen last week, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
Six people drowned and 11 others are presumed dead after smugglers forced the passengers overboard in deep water off Yemen last week, the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday.
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Survivors said the smuggling boat had departed on Thursday from Suweto in Somalia's Bossasso region, Ron Redmond of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told reporters. It was carrying 40 Somalis and 12 Ethiopians across the Gulf of Aden and was one of seven smuggling boats that reached the coast of Yemen on Friday.
"When the smugglers noticed the presence of the Yemeni police onshore, they refused to get closer to the coast and forced passengers overboard in deep water," Redmond said.
Initial reports said 35 people reached shore near Huseysa, about 500 kilometres east of Aden, where UNHCR's local partner provided them with first aid, food and water. The six bodies were also recovered near Huseysa.
Redmond said this was the third incident in this. "So far this year, a total of 168 boats and 9,449 people have reached the Yemen coast. To date, the death toll stands at 47 people, with 23 bodies recovered and 24 missing at sea."
In 2008, more than 50,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, and the influx of new arrivals making the perilous voyage since the beginning of this year increased slightly compared to the same period in 2008.
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