http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/news/international/313149/refugees-drown-in-attempted-sudanese-smuggling
Refugees drown in attempted Sudanese smuggling
December 25, 2014 - 6:15:00 pm
KHARTOUM--At least eight asylum-seekers have drowned trying to cross a
river in Sudan during an attempt to smuggle them out of a refugee
camp, the UN refugee agency said Thursday.
The accident happened as a group of from the Shegarab-1 camp in the
eastern state of Kassala tried to cross the Atbara river on Wednesday
evening.
"There was an attempt to smuggle some of these asylum-seekers out of
the camp and they were being transported on four rickety, small
fishing boats," said Mohammed Adar, the UNHCR representative in Sudan.
One of the boats sank and "eight bodies have been found and two are
still missing," he said, adding that another 10 people swam to safety
and returned to the camp.
The other boats crossed successfully, Adar said, without saying how
many people had managed to leave the camp.
Adar said the United Nations had not verified the nationality of the
dead but said the government had sent a team to investigate.
Their intended destination was unknown, but eastern Sudan has a
significant refugee population, the majority Eritreans fleeing a
military regime at home.
Nearly 110,000 Eritreans currently live throughout Sudan.
The Shegarab-1 camp is jointly run by the Sudanese government and the
UN and houses 15,000 people, mostly asylum-seekers.
AFP
Received on Fri Dec 26 2014 - 16:19:02 EST