19/05/2006
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invia
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Every day tens of hopeful migrants risk their lives while attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden
The scene is almost always the same, day in and day out. Groups of guards at
work guarding the coasts find cadavers washed ashore on the beach. They are the
bodies of the migrants who risk their lives to enter the country by crossing the
sea that separates the Horn of Africa from the Arabic peninsula. Just yesterday
the guards found three more victims of this silent massacre washed ashore.
An open-air coffin. The narrowest stretch of the Gulf of Aden, called Bab el Mandeb, between Gibuti
and Yemen, is only 16 kilometers long. This stretch of sea has become the passageway
to a better life for millions of Somailans, Eritreans, and Ethiopians on their
journey to Europe, often escaping from hunger, disease, and warfare. But more
and more frequently this journey through the Gulf of Aden has become a one-way
trip. Here are some examples using data only from 2006: on January 16th,
a ship full of people was overturned and 20 people drowned in the Gulf
of Aden. On the night of January 21st, 91 migrants died after
having jumped in the water to escape the Yemen coast guard. A
similar event happened on February 25th,
this time resulting in the deaths of 60 people, including women and
children. These are only a handful of the countless terrible
stories of refugees’ deaths. In fact, according to the High
Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (ACNUR), based in
Mayfa’a in the southern part of Yemen, about 100 migrants per day die
in the journey across the gulf, especially between the months of
September and March. Yet estimating the number of victims is
almost impossible, considering that very few have legal
documents. However there is talk of more than a thousand people
in just a few years.
Hopeful cargo. “It’s incredible that so many people continue to die in search of a better
life,” declared Astrid Van Genderen Stort, spokesman of ANCUR in Geneva. “Too
many people have died meaningless deaths while trying to cross that stretch of
sea.”
A place of change. A web of well-organized crime, together with the collaboration of some Yemen
police, helps to “place” refugees in locations outside of Yemen. Desired destinations
include the rich countries of the Persian Gulf like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, and Qatar, or Israel and Lebanon which could be an easier stepping stone
to arriving in Europe. Many end up working like slaves in work zones in the gulf,
especially the woman, who tend to become victims of sexual abuse of every kind
from the oil kings. ANCUR collaborates with authorities in Somalia and Ethiopia
in a campaign to inform people of the dangers of crossing the Gulf of Aden. In
January, the organization ONU made a video with the same goal of informing locals
of the dangers. They are currently working on producing radio programs in local
languages in hopes of reaching more people, considering that radio is the most
common form of mass communication available in those areas.
An open-air coffin. The narrowest stretch of the Gulf of Aden, called Bab el Mandeb, between Gibuti
and Yemen, is only 16 kilometers long. This stretch of sea has become the passageway
to a better life for millions of Somailans, Eritreans, and Ethiopians on their
journey to Europe, often escaping from hunger, disease, and warfare. But more
and more frequently this journey through the Gulf of Aden has become a one-way
trip. Here are some examples using data only from 2006: on January 16th,
a ship full of people was overturned and 20 people drowned in the Gulf
of Aden. On the night of January 21st, 91 migrants died after
having jumped in the water to escape the Yemen coast guard. A
similar event happened on February 25th,
this time resulting in the deaths of 60 people, including women and
children. These are only a handful of the countless terrible
stories of refugees’ deaths. In fact, according to the High
Commissioner of the United Nations for Refugees (ACNUR), based in
Mayfa’a in the southern part of Yemen, about 100 migrants per day die
in the journey across the gulf, especially between the months of
September and March. Yet estimating the number of victims is
almost impossible, considering that very few have legal
documents. However there is talk of more than a thousand people
in just a few years. Hopeful cargo. “It’s incredible that so many people continue to die in search of a better
life,” declared Astrid Van Genderen Stort, spokesman of ANCUR in Geneva. “Too
many people have died meaningless deaths while trying to cross that stretch of
sea.”The trip is relatively cheap; approximately 50 American dollars to go from the
African coast to Yemen. But it is cheap for good reason: the trip itself is very
high-risk and the Yemenite coasts are guarded closely. Yet thousands of migrants
continue to take the risk because Yemen is one of the few countries in the area
that follows the ONU Convention laws about refugees from 1951 which say that upon
an immigrant’s arrival in Yemen, welcoming measures are taken and the migrant
immediately becomes a refugee whose status is based on his nationality, not on
an individual exam. This is why approximately 80,000 refugees currently live
in Yemen, 90% of whom are Somalians. Yemen, therefore, represents the half-way
point for many migrants. It is a place where they can arrive without being immediately
expelled, but it is not their final destination where they would like to live
and work.
A place of change. A web of well-organized crime, together with the collaboration of some Yemen
police, helps to “place” refugees in locations outside of Yemen. Desired destinations
include the rich countries of the Persian Gulf like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, and Qatar, or Israel and Lebanon which could be an easier stepping stone
to arriving in Europe. Many end up working like slaves in work zones in the gulf,
especially the woman, who tend to become victims of sexual abuse of every kind
from the oil kings. ANCUR collaborates with authorities in Somalia and Ethiopia
in a campaign to inform people of the dangers of crossing the Gulf of Aden. In
January, the organization ONU made a video with the same goal of informing locals
of the dangers. They are currently working on producing radio programs in local
languages in hopes of reaching more people, considering that radio is the most
common form of mass communication available in those areas.At the same time, in November of 2005, ANCUR signed a treaty with the Yemenite
government agreeing to register all refugees upon their arrival in Yemen; 16,000
people have already registered in this census only in Sana’a, the capital of Yemen,
where the majority of refugees reside. The program will continue in five other
locations throughout Yemen.
Christian Elia
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