Frontline News
©
UNHCR/ K. McKinsey
The fighting in Mogadishu and
central Somalia is pushing thousands of Somali civilians to risk their lives to
cross the Gulf of Aden and seek asylum in Yemen. Bossasso
Beach in Somalia's northeast Puntland region is one of the main departure points
for smuggler's boats heading for Yemen. Many don't survive the perilous trip in
rough waters on poorly-maintained smugglers' boats.
“Waiting to be smuggled into Yemen”
“I left Mogadishu with my husband and our children one year ago because people told us that Yemen was a good place to live . . . We could only afford only to pay for one place on a smuggler’s boat and my husband went first. He was supposed to send me money so that I could join him with my children. I have received no news since then. I believe he is dead; he must have drowned during the crossing. Now I can neither go back to Mogadishu, which is too dangerous, nor stay here in Bossasso, where there is only poverty for us. I am desperate. I plan to cross to Yemen. My 10-year-old daughter will take care of the younger children while I am away . . . This is not a real life.”
- Hoda, a displaced Somali woman from Mogadishu.
Background info
So far this year, close to 25,000 Somalis have been smuggled into Yemen by boat from northern Somalia, mainly from areas around Bossasso. Most were escaping from violence and poverty in their country. Many lost their lives during the trip.
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Since the resumption of the violence in Mogadishu in May 2009, more than a quarter of a million people have fled their homes. Most of them have settled in other areas of Mogadishu or not far from the capital. Just $10 could change somebody's life.
