The number of mostly Somali migrants who drowned on 12 February off the Yemeni coast has increased to 107, Somali community officials in the capital, Sana’a, said on Sunday. “The number of migrants who drowned increased from 30 to 107 [as more bodies were found]. Most of them are Somalis and about 20 percent of them are from Ethiopia,” Sadat Mohammed, Head of Refugee Affairs at the Somali Community in Sana’a, told IRIN. He also said more people were still missing at sea. | When nearing the Yemeni coast, smugglers often force people to jump off and swim to shore so the smugglers can escape being arrested or shot at by Yemeni coastguards. |
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) recently confirmed that smugglers were taking new and more hazardous sea routes to Yemen as a result of increased security patrols along the Yemeni coast. When nearing the Yemeni coast, smugglers often force people to jump off and swim to shore so the smugglers can escape being arrested or shot at by Yemeni coastguards, Somali community leaders said.