(KUNA) -- The United Nations High Coommissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Friday that more than 22,000 people have crossed the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen this year in smugglers' boats. According to UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond at least 355 died making the perilous voyage and more than 150 are missing. About half of those arriving on the coast of Yemen eventually sought and received assistance from UNHCR upon arrival.Over the past eight days, nearly 1,500 Somalis and Ethiopians arrived in 12 smugglers' boats. At least 18 people aboard those boats died and 17 are missing. The boats from Somalia usually land along a remote, 300-km stretch of tribal-ruled coastline. UNHCR, which has only limited access to the often insecure coast, was able over the past eight days to transport 853 Somalis and Ethiopians to the May'fa reception centre, providing them with food, water, medical care and other assistance. Bosaso still has an estimated 22,000 internally displaced people from throughout Somalia and up to 5,000 mainly Ethiopian migrants, according to estimates by authorities.