Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Seven people drowned in the incident on Saturday and 5 more are missing and presumed dead, said spokesperson Ron Redmond.
"We are grateful to the French Navy and the Yemeni authorities, including port officials and the coast guard, for the rescue operation," he told journalists in Geneva, where UNHCR has its headquarters.
The rickety vessel packed with Somali and Ethiopian migrants was found adrift and taking water 86 kilometres off Yemen's coast by a French frigate, he said.
The Floreal stopped the leak in the smugglers' boat and towed it toward the Yemeni port of Aden. But the passengers tipped the vessel over when they rushed to disembark as it docked at a pier, Redmond said.
Four smugglers also were rescued in the operation and subsequently arrested. Nineteen of the passengers were admitted to hospital, while 66 were transferred to the care of a local aid agency, he said.
It was the latest deadly incident for the mainly Somali refugees who try to make the treacherous voyage from the Horn of Africa to the Arabian peninsula. Hundreds die every year, with many drowning or being attacked by pirates.
Redmond said 260 boats and 13 250 people have safely made the crossing this year. The death toll stands at 54, with another 36 missing at sea.
UNHCR says over 50 000 migrants last year crossed the Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.
Source: AP, Mar 24, 2009