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Mohamed Mukhtar
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Gulf of Aden has become a death-trap for Somali asylum seekers. In 2006, UNHCR reported that 27,000 Somalis made the perilous voyage. 330 perished at sea and another 300 were reported missing. According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in 2007, 27,960 persons reached Yemen, 593 died and another 659 went missing. So far this year, according to the UN, 25,859 people have arrived in Yemen. More than 425 have either died or gone missing.
It takes two to four days to make the 180-mile trip between Somalia and Yemen. These perilous journeys claim many lives and those who lucky enough to reach Yemen tell painful stories of extreme thirst, hunger and exhaustion. Some passengers choose to jump into the sea when they can no longer bear the thirst while others become crazy and start biting. Unscrupulous smugglers beat and sometimes shoot passengers. Dead bodies are thrown overboard into shark-infested waters. Passengers are frequently forced overboard at gunpoint so the boats can make a quick getaway. Most passengers cannot swim and are left to the mercy of the sea.
Washed ashore in Yemen, the body of a Somali woman forced to jump off a traffickers' boat
An exhausted 23-year old survivor recounted his experience with an MSF team on the beach of Wadi Al-Barak, in Yemen, 30 km east of Ahwar: “The smugglers promised us in Bossaso [Somalia] that we would be transported to Yemen in small groups with new fast boats, and with proper food and water. However, the boat was an old one. They pointed at us with their weapons and forced us to jump inside. We were 120 people, overcrowded; the trip took two days. We did not receive food, nor water. Some of us were placed in the hull. Several people died because of asphyxia, some others were thrown overboard, among them two children. In order to intimidate us, they beat us heavily with their belts. One of the smugglers threw petrol on us and showed off his lighter.”
The political instability and extreme poverty that have engulfed Somalia force Somalis to flee from their country and take horrific voyages across the Gulf of Aden that often end in tragedy. Sadly, Yemen offers no solution to their problems. Husayn Haji Ahmad, the acting Somali Consul-General in Aden, once said, “There is no paradise here [Yemen]. They [refugees] will not find a better life, only death at sea and broken dreams.” The search to find a safe place and better life continues exacting an enormous price.
Mohamed Mukhtar
London, UK
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