More Africans Drowned off Yemeni Coasts

The French Doctors With out Borders Organization mentioned that its team found a corpse of an African emigrant out of 90 other emigrants reported missing after their boat drowned off Yemen's Abyan coast.

Sources indicated that just 25 illegal emigrants survived the incident and further hinted the captain lost control of his boat following a dispute between the captain and the passengers, mostly women and children.

A local source pointed out the ship drowned 300 km off Abyan's Ahwar district, hinting the seawaves were high then. Over 50 bodies were washed to Abyan's shores and coast guards are in search for other bodies.

Somali smugglers and pirates force emigrants to jump into the deep waters especially when Yemeni coast guards reinforced their patrols in Yemen's regional water.

These hazardous journeys start from Somalia's port city Bossaso, the closest city to Yemeni coasts, where owners of rickety boats exist. The journey takes from two to four days and costs about $50 per head.

The UNHCER office in Yemen mentioned that over 20,000 illegal African emigrants crossed Aden Gulf during 2007, while 439 drowned and other 489 were reported missing during the same period.