SMUGGLING SEASON IN YEMEN

It is reported that smuggling season has commenced in Yemen and woes relating to this are being reported. The ‘commodity’ smuggled is men! The season begins September every year as the weather becomes milder, helping smugglers traffic Africans to Yemen by boat. At least 16 Africans died, and 49 others are missing and presumed dead, in three separate incidents as boats smuggling them from Somalia to Yemen capsized in the Gulf of Aden, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). It is reported that each passenger paid smugglers about US$50 to get from the Somali port city of Bossaso to Yemen. A boat carrying 142 Somali and non-Somali citizens had engine failure and capsized near the Yemeni coastal town of Radfan. In another incident, a boat carrying 122 Africans capsized near Yemen’s shores and 13 passengers lost their lives because of severe mistreatment at the hands of smugglers. A third incident was reported by a European Union warship, the Louise of Belgium, which detected a sinking boat. The warship proceeded immediately to the scene and rescued 38 people.