http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/east/UN-Reports-Record-Number-of-Horn-of-Africa-Refugees-137752403.html?utm_source=voaafrica&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=en&utm_content=twitterfeed
January 20, 2012UN Reports Record Number of Horn of Africa Refugees
VOA News
The U.N. refugee agency says a record number of people - 103,000 - crossed
from the Horn of Africa to Yemen last year, fleeing violence, poverty, and
the regional drought.
The number of crossings nearly doubled from 2010, and is 25,000 higher than
any other year in the agency's records.
UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards said Friday that three-fourths of the
migrants came from Ethiopia. He says many Ethiopians told the agency they
left home to seek economic opportunity, and look at Yemen as a transit
country to other states.
Most of the other migrants came from Somalia, which endured a year of
grueling conflict and drought, leading to famine in parts of the south.
The agency expressed concern about the perilous conditions migrants face
crossing the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and said they also face abuse and
poor access to basic needs like water and shelter in Yemen.
Yemen is struggling with an ongoing political crisis, and the UNHCR says
the instability and a reduced police presence are exposing the migrants to
robbery, abductions, and extortion.
It says in one incident this week, three Ethiopians were killed by
smugglers operating along Yemen's Red Sea coast. It says that according to
initial reports, the Ethiopians were shot trying to escape from human
smugglers who were trying to extort money.
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Received on Sat Jan 21 2012 - 09:48:09 EST
