More and more Somalis and Ethiopians are dying while crossing the Gulf of Aden to Yemen on smuggling boats since the beginning of this year, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday.
"The rate of smuggling boats reaching the shores of Yemen after crossing the Gulf of Aden appears to have increased during the first half of October along with the appalling death toll," UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis told reporters here.
More than 38 smuggling boats -- an average of three boats a day-- have been recorded arriving along Yemen's coast during the first 13 days of October carrying nearly 3,800 people, Pagonis said.
A total of 38 are known to have died during the perilous journey while 134 remain missing, she added.
In September, 59 boats arrived along Yemen's coast carrying 5,808 people -- 99 died and 141 remain missing, according to UNHCR figures.
"The new arrivals -- both Somalis and Ethiopians -- continue to tell us harrowing stories of their journeys ... during which passengers are stabbed, beaten and thrown overboard by ruthless smugglers," Pagonis said.
Most of the Somalis arriving on the boats said they had fled their country because of ongoing confrontations between the Transitional Federal Government and opposition forces, tribal fighting as well as the lack of jobs, according to UNHCR.
The Ethiopian arrivals mentioned poverty, famine, economic instability, lack of opportunities for education and political reasons for their departure to Yemen.
Since the beginning of this year, a total of 18,757 people have crossed the Gulf of Aden by boat. An estimated 404 are known to have died while 393 remain missing.
Source: Xinhua
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