Up 43500 African refugees in Yemen in 2008

SANA'A, Dec. 03 (Saba)- Yemen has received more than 43500 Somali
and Ethiopians refugees in 2008, spokesman for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ron Redmond said.

Redmond pointed out that a statistic of UNHCR had showed that more
than 26000 African refugees have arrived in Yemen across the Gulf of
Aden in 2006 while about 20000 refugees arrived in 2007 coming from
Somali ports.

UNHCR said that about 20 out of a total 155 refugees most of them
were Ethiopians have lost their lives last Monday after being forced
overboard by the smugglers at the Yemeni coasts.

Yemen's Interior Ministry said that 17 corpses of Somali refugees,
including two children and a number of women, were founded on a
coast of Abyan province.

Redmond added that 380 African refugees have been died and 260
others were missed during dangerous trips from Somalia to Yemen in
2008.

In 2006, about 330 Somali and Ethiopians refugees have been died and
300 others were missed.

MD/YA