The United Nations refugee agency said today that 16 people lost their lives
and 49 others are missing and presumed dead in three separate smuggling
incidents in the Gulf of Aden over the last two days.
"<"http://www.unhcr.org/4aafb50d6.html">UNHCR staff in Yemen report an
increasing number of larger smuggling vessels making the journey across the
Gulf of Aden, which puts more lives at risk," Melissa Fleming, spokesperson
for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, told reporters in Geneva.
A host of reasons from civil war, political instability, famine and poverty
in the Horn of Africa have led thousands to make the perilous voyage to
Yemen in smugglers' boats every year.
So far this year, a total of 860 boats and 43,586 people have made that
journey, Ms. Fleming said, adding that some 273 people have drowned or are
missing at sea and presumed dead.
According to survivors of the first incident, which took place early Sunday
off the coast of Radfan in Yemen, one person was reported to have suffocated
in the engine room of the boat while others were reportedly beaten and
threatened by the smugglers.
The vessel, which left from the Somali town of Elayo last Thursday, capsized
as the smuggling crew jumped overboard after being unable to fix an engine
failure.
Ms. Fleming said 98 people managed to swim ashore while 43 others are
missing and presumed dead.
The second incident involved a boat reportedly carrying 112 Africans, of
whom three were reportedly beaten to death by the smugglers and another 10
died due to asphyxiation. The boat reached Yemen on Sunday morning after
having left Somalia last Thursday.
In the third incident, a European Union warship rescued 38 people from a
small boat that was sinking in deep waters. The boat was originally carrying
46 people, according to survivors. Rescue helicopters launched from the EU
vessel spotted two bodies in nearby waters. Another six people are missing
and presumed drowned.
The rescued passengers were allowed to disembark this morning at the Yemeni
port of Mulkalla, said Ms. Fleming.
Meanwhile, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay today said the millions of
people who risk their lives and safety in order to cross international
boundaries in search of a better life present one of the most serious human
rights problems in the world today.
"Countless migrants fall prey to human traffickers who prosper the most
where government scrutiny is at its weakest," she
<"http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/2DD5A4BD46C13CEFC1257631
002D5B6B?opendocument">told the 12th session of the UN Human Rights Council
in Geneva. "States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil a wide
range of human rights of all individuals under their jurisdiction, including
all migrants, regardless of their immigration status.
Ms. Pillay accused authorities and ships of violating international law when
they reject or ignore the pleas of migrants stranded at sea.
"In many cases, authorities reject these migrants and leave them to face
hardship and peril, if not death, as though they were turning away ships
laden with dangerous waste. Their fate is thus sealed as they try to cross
the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Aden, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, and
other stretches of water.
"In clear violation of international law, they are abandoned and rejected
without proper check of whether they are fleeing persecution. All too often
migrants and refugees encounter the same callous rejections at land
borders," she noted.
Sep 15 2009 2:10PM
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