At least 64 African migrants drown in Gulf of Aden

Nov 22, 2007, 16:54 GMT

Sana'a, Yemen - At least 64 African would-be immigrants drowned in shark-infested waters off Yemen while trying to cross the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, Yemen's official Saba news agency reported Thursday.

The agency said the incident took place late on Wednesday when a boat loaded with migrants capsized off the coast of Arqa area in Shabwa province, some 580 kilometres south-east of the capital Sana'a.

Sixty-four bodies, including those of three children and seven women, were recovered by coast guards and fishermen, while 25 survivors made it to shore alive, Saba said.

The agency did not give a breakdown of their nationalities.

Hundreds of Somali and Ethiopian migrants die every year making the perilous crossing of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen on small boats run by smugglers operating from Somali ports.

On November 3 at least 40 Somalis drowned off Yemeni coasts after being forced overboard by smugglers, according to Yemeni officials.

On October 23, the United Nations refugees agency, UNHCR, said up to 66 people drowned off Yemen in a similar incident.

More than 20,000 people have crossed the Gulf of Aden since January, with at least 439 people having died and 489 reported missing and feared dead, according to the UNHCR.

The agency has also said about 27,000 people made the voyage to Yemen last year, with 330 deaths and a further 300 still missing.

Since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia, Yemen has become a magnet for refugees fleeing violence and drought and a gateway to the oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula and Europe.

Yemen is the only Arabian Peninsula country that is a signatory of the 1951 Geneva Convention and 1967 protocol on the status of refugees.

It has been automatically granting prime facie refugee status to Somalis arriving illegally in the country since the collapse of their government in 1991.

Ethiopians are not automatically considered refugees, but their cases are considered individually.