45 people drown as smugglers offload boat at gunpoint

Sanaa: At least 45 Africans died and 206 are still missing after smugglers forced passengers off boats into deep waters off Yemen's eastern coast, an official from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said yesterday.

"On Sunday, 39 bodies were found and today we have been informed that six more bodies were found as well," field officer Mohammad Godbout told Gulf News from Aden yesterday.

"The victims were part of a group of about 349 Ethiopians and Somalis crossing from Somalia to Yemen in three boats," the official of the Aden-based UNHCR said.

"Those who have already arrived in our reception centre in Mayfaa until today are 98 people, they will stay about two or three days in the centre which provides them with everything they need," he said referring to the Refugees Reception Centre in Mayfaa, about 700 km east of the capital Sanaa, yesterday. It's up to them either to go to Kharaz camp for refugees or go wherever they like, the official said.

He pointed out that some of the missing may have gone to their own destinations in Yemen. "Some of them do not come to the centre, they have their own plans," he said.

In deep sea

"Those who came to the centre said one of the boats that had set off from Somalia developed mechanical problems, but managed to cross the Gulf of Aden with help from the smugglers on the other two boats," an UNHCR statement said.

Close to the Yemeni shore, the faster boat rushed ahead in an attempt to avoid the coast guards and dropped off their passengers.

"The smugglers in the third boat, however, could not get close to shore. Not wanting to be left behind with a broken boat, they forced all the passengers overboard at gunpoint," the statement said. "The boat was still in deep sea when they were thrown overboard and only those who could swim managed to reach safety," it added.

It was not clear when the boats left Somalia.

Every year, thousands of Somalis fleeing violence or seeking a better life arrive in Yemen on boats through the Gulf of Aden, wishing to reach Arab countries or Europe.

Smugglers frequently beat their passengers or force them overboard while still far from shore, sometimes with their hands tied behind their backs.

Yemen has more than 80,000 registered refugees, almost all of them Somalis who have arrived since civil strife began in Somalia in 1991. From September 2005 until April 2006, 241 boats arrived from Somalia, an average of 30 boats a month. Several hundreds died during these trips, according to UNHCR.