Somalia Cracks Down on Migrants

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Published: September 29, 2009

Somalia Cracks Down on Migrants

Somalian authorities in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have launched a crackdown on thousands of migrants attempting to escape to Yemen, IRIN News has reported. Up to 5,000 Somalis and Ethiopians displaced by conflict, poverty and hunger are gathered in Bossasso, where they reportedly pay smugglers at least 150 US dollars to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen. Local security forces have taken over beaches in Bossasso used to pick up migrants, but claim they won’t be able to stop smuggling without international assistance. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that around 47,000 people have crossed from the Horn of Africa to Yemen since January 2009. So far this year at least 322 have drowned attempting to make the trip.

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