UNHCR values Yemen efforts to shelter Somali refugees

GENEVA, Oct. 09 (Saba) - UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio
Guterres has valued Yemen's efforts to receive Somali refugees.

During his meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister - Chairman of the
National Commission for Refugees Affairs Ali Muthana in Geneva,
Switzerland late on Wednesday, Guterres praised the President
Saleh's role in supporting Somali national reconciliation efforts.

The UN official confirmed role of the UNHCR to contribute to
improving the capacities of the experts working in refugees' affairs
field, noting that he called on the international community to
increase its assistance to Yemen.

On the sidelines of the 59th session activities of the Executive
Committee of United Nations High Commissioner's for Refugees (UNHCR)
program being held in Geneva currently, Muthana has also held
meetings with heads of the participating delegations of Saudi
Arabian, US, Germany, Japan and Netherlands.

Muthana has discussed separately with each of them the last
development in the African Horn, particularly in Somalia and its
negative impacts of migrants rush, in addition to the piracy
phenomenon and means of tackling it.

All the meetings have confirmed significance of the international
community's support for the political solution in Somalia and the
necessity to make the international community shoulder its
responsibility in this regard.

Moreover, they asserted the importance of supporting Yemen's efforts
to bear burden of receiving more than 700,000 refugees as well as
Yemeni coastguards to fight piracy phenomenon in the region in
cooperation with the international community.