OVER 50 SOMALI REFUGEES DEAD OR MISSING IN GULF OF ADEN BOAT TRAGEDY, UN REPORTS

OVER 50 SOMALI REFUGEES DEAD OR MISSING IN GULF OF ADEN BOAT TRAGEDY, UN REPORTS
Over 50 Somali refugees, including women and children, apparently
drowned when their boat capsized in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, the
highest toll in more than three years in the perilous exodus of
thousands fleeing fighting in their homeland, the United Nations
reported today.

"We are horrified by this latest tragedy that adds to the terrible
suffering of the Somali people," UN High Commissioner for Refugees
António Guterres <"http://www.unhcr.org/4d6622366.html">said. "The
Gulf of Aden remains one of the deadliest routes for those fleeing the
fatal mix of conflict, violence and human rights abuses in the Horn of
Africa."

Fifty-seven Somalis – 54 refugees, including six children, and three
smugglers – were aboard the boat when it capsized off the coast of
Yemen. As of late yesterday, 23 bodies had been recovered by the
Yemeni navy. Only one person is known to have survived, a 42-year-old
man who swam for almost a day before reaching the Yemeni coast near
the port of Bir Ali, some 400 kilometres east of Aden.

"Based on what we know so far this is the largest loss of life in the
seas between Somalia and Yemen in a single incident since January
2008," the UN refugee agency, known by its acronym as UNHCR, said in a
<"http://www.unhcr.org/4d665cd68.html">news release. On that occasion,
smugglers forced 135 people into the water from a boat, causing it to
capsize; 114 people drowned.

The survivor, who had fled fighting in Mogadishu with his wife and
three children, said the boat began taking on water after being struck
repeatedly by strong waves. Eventually it capsized. Just nine men,
including the three smugglers, were left alive at this stage, clinging
to small plastic tanks. The survivor did not know what happened to
these people.

The man was eventually helped by UNHCR's local partner, the Society
for Humanitarian Solidarity. He told UNHCR that his family and other
passengers had boarded a small two-engine boat near the port town of
Bossaso in northern Somalia on Friday evening. On average it takes
three days for boats to cross to Yemen.

With the latest deaths, 89 people are known to have drowned or gone
missing in the perilous waters been Somalia and Yemen this year. All
Somalis reaching Yemen by unauthorized sea passage are regarded as
refugees.

There are more than 170,000 registered Somali refugees in Yemen, of
whom some 16,000 arrived last year alone. The refugees frequently fall
victim to vicious smuggler who brutalize them after taking
extortionate fees for the passage.

UNHCR has consistently tried to promote international and local action
to combat the vicious smuggling practices and to focus more attention
on conditions in the countries of origin that lead people to leave in
the first place. Despite these efforts, the number of people leaving
their homes and taking enormous risks has not decreased.
Feb 24 2011 12:10PM