YEMEN: Hundreds of Somali refugees escape violence into Yemen

Somali refugees arrive by the hundreds in South Yemen on decrepit boats, escaping violence in the neighbouring African state. Refugees fleeing war torn Somalia arrived by the hundreds on Sunday (April 15) into South Yemen. Refugees were smuggled across the Gulf of Aden in decrepit ships. Those fortune enough to have survived the journey laid exhausted and destitute on the South Yemen coast, oblivious to the challenges they now faced. Many of the survivors struggled to reconstruct their traumatising experiences unsure of how many others made it across alive. ''We were forced out of the ship in a very deep area of the sea. Those who died, those who didn't get out alive I don't know; only God knows. But a lot of people died and we didn't see them'', said refugee Myriam Amr. Smugglers, who carried the fleeing Somalis fill their ships above capacity, often mistreating their human cargo. Incidents involving capsized ships, resulting in numerous deaths have not been uncommon since the start of the influx of refugees. ''They (the smugglers) pack the small ships which have a capacity of about 40 people with 90. They add 50 more people than the ship can take. They don't give us any water. They just beat us with sticks'', said refugee Adam Shilm. At least 34 refugees drowned on Friday (April 6) after traffickers forced them overboard off the coast of Yemen, the UN refugee agency said on Tuesday (April 10). Fleeing Somalis, land predominantly on a 300 km stretch on the southern Yemeni coast. The UNHCR has, since the beginning of the influx, struggled in gaining adequate access to the insecure area, just as Yemeni coast guards have struggled in bringing any kind of control to this increasingly mercurial situation. 'Recently, we've received 700 (refugees). That is a quite a increase from about 500. Before yesterday, 90 arrived and the day before that about 110 on three boats and because of this, honestly, we require from international organisations special support for dealing with the number of dead'', said Awad Makbal, a Yemeni coast guard officer . So far this year, more than 5,600 people have landed on the Yemeni coast and at least 200 people have died, although many remain missing, according to the agency.

ITN Source | April 17, 2007

Tags:. .weve. .situation. .quite. .adam. .sea