Dozens of bodies washed ashore in Yemen on Friday after smugglers threw nearly 150 migrants from Somalia overboard in shark-infested waters, the latest such tragedy in one of the most lawless stretches of ocean in the world.
The Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the Horn of Africa has already become notorious for Somali piracy. The hijacking of a ship carrying a cargo of heavy weapons two weeks ago heightened concern over the chaos in a key shipping route — and prompted NATO on Thursday to send warships to help US Navy vessels already patrolling the region.
The latest migrant deaths raised calls for those ships to also act against human trafficking across the same waters, which is also fueled by the turmoil in Somalia, a country where there is no government control and armed groups are rampant.
“It’s essentially the same problems that allow piracy and smuggling,” said Roger Middleton, an expert on East Africa at the Chatham House think tank in London.
Around 32,000 migrants have made the hazardous sea journey to Yemen this year, figures from the Yemeni government and the UN showed.
Smugglers are known to cram dozens of people onto small boats and often beat them during the journey. To avoid Yemeni patrols, the smugglers often dump their passengers far from shore and force them to swim the rest of the way.
In the latest instance, around 150 migrants departed Somalia on Monday, and when their vessel reached about 5km off Yemen’s southern Shabwa coast, the smugglers ordered everyone off, UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond said.
Twelve of the passengers were put on a smaller boat to take them to shore, while the rest were forced to swim.
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