Posted on 12/28/2006 1:46:14 PM PST by mdittmar
GENEVA: Seventeen people died and 140 would-be migrants were missing at sea Thursday after Yemeni police opened fire on a group of boats attempting to smuggle 515 people from Somalia to Yemen, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR)said.
Two of four boats carrying mainly Somalis and Ethiopians capsized in the Gulf of Aden late on Wednesday after Yemeni authorities spotted the vessels approaching the coastline.
Survivors said Yemeni forces opened fired as two boats offloaded passengers. Yemeni officials said the smugglers returned fire.
The third and fourth boats, anchored further offshore under the cover of darkness, tried to escape back to sea. But one of the vessels capsized near Al-Baida after becoming unbalanced by agitated passengers. The other was forced back to shore by coast-guard boats and a helicopter but capsized in heavy seas just 300 meters offshore.
More than 25,800 people have been recorded arriving in Yemen from troubled Somalia this year. Somalis reaching the country are automatically given refugee status if they apply because most are fleeing violent conflict. Ethiopians are not automatically considered refugees but can put their cases individually. Of the more than 88,000 registered refugees in Yemen, 84,000 are Somalis.
Yemeni authorities said Thursday they captured all 17 smugglers and their four boats, and that a search operation was still under way for survivors.
UNHCR chief Antonio Guterres said he was shocked by the loss of life.
"I am deeply saddened," Guterres said in Geneva. "Despite efforts to halt this horrible trade, brutal smugglers continue to prey on the desperation of poor people fleeing persecution and violence."
Somalis on the boats said they came from troubled areas in central Somalia. Many said they had fled as a result of the conflict between the Ethiopian-backed Somali government and Islamist miltias.
The boats from Somalia usually land along a remote 300-kilometer stretch of tribal-ruled coastline. The UNHCR has only limited access to much of the insecure coast. - AFP
Happy Hunting!
Happy New Year!
The only ones who needed to flee that badly were the Talebunny (terrorist) supporters. One hopes they were the ones who bit it. Sad to hear if others inadvertently died.
My black buddy flew out of Eritrea 36 hours ago. He needs to get back here to spank his daughters. They had drunken parties going on at his house for days.
I wish we could do that on our southern border....that would make it much more interesting
I'm glad he made it out.
It is not a good situation there with Ethiopia still wishing to destroy Eritrea while also fighting in Somali.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have issues with travel and shipping to Red Sea ports. All they need to do is to start negotiating a Treaty of Contracts. They need Benjamin Franklin to pop in to show them what to do. That guy was smart.
The UN will of course blame Ethiopia.
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