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.