Exodus from Somalia: More than 97,000 people have fled through the Gulf of Aden

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) drew attention on Friday to a refugee tragedy which has gone practically unnoticed: More than 97,000 people from North-east Africa have fled since January 2007 through the Gulf of Aden in boats, most of which are un-seaworthy. The High Commissioner for Refugees of the United Nations (UNHCR) reports that at least 2,460 of these boat-people have drowned or have died in another way. The human rights organisation reports that most of the refugees come from Somalia and a small number from Ethiopia.

In the year 2008 the number of these refugees has with 50,091 persons almost doubled with regard to the previous year. In 2007 the number was 29,500. "In the year 2009 the number of boat-people in the Gulf of Adenis threatening to increase even more”, said the GfbV Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius. Since January 2009 more than 17,900 persons have chosen this dangerous route in order to escape from chaos, violence and desperate poverty in Somalia. These boats, packed tight with refugees, are often not able to cope with the heavy seas, which are full of sharks, or just sink in storms.

At the beginning of the Easter week 30 people have died. Ten of them drowned on 5th April, when a boat with 23 passengers on board began to leak. The day before 20 refugees died. Their boat with 40 passengers capsized on landing in Yemen.

Ulrich Delius can also be reached at tel. ++49(0)160 95 67 14 03.