Vanguard correspondents Christof Putzel and Kaj Larsen first ventured to Somalia in the summer of 2006 during a brief period of fragile stability.
They discovered that peace reigned in the capital for a few weeks after 15 years of bloody civil war in what the world labeled a failed state.

Shortly after they left the country, however, Ethiopian forces backed by US air power invaded Somalia to drive the ruling Islamic Court Union out of the capital, Mogadishu. Somalia plunged back into war.

Threatened by renewed violence and devastating poverty, countless Somalis once again fled their homes in search of peace and security. Tens of thousands try to escape in small boats across the dangerous Gulf of Aden. As Christof and Kaj found on a return to the region, many don't make it, and those who do face an uncertain future in the vast, alien desert of Yemen.

Current TV features a documentary about the deadly risks at sea Somali refugees and  Ethiopian migrants are forced to take in search of a better life in Yemen, and the  Doctors Without Borders medical teams helping those who survive.

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For further background, a Doctors Without Borders Special Report:

NO CHOICE: Somali and Ethiopian Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants Crossing The  Gulf of Aden
 
Thousands of people risk their lives every year to cross the Gulf of Aden to escape  from conflict, violence, drought and poverty. During 2007, almost 30,000 took the  dangerous voyage to seek relative safety in Yemen. Due to the escalation of the  conflict in Somalia and the food crisis in parts of the Horn of Africa, more and more  people will join the already large refugee and migrant population in Yemen. During  the first five months of 2008 over 20,000 arrived, more than double the number of  arrivals in the same period last year. Lacking safe and legal alternatives to leave  their country, refugees and migrants have to use the services of smugglers to cross  the Gulf of Aden. The boat trip is fraught with danger; the smugglers are notorious  for their brutality. Fatality rates are very high; for 2007, it is estimated that at  least 5% those setting out on the dangerous journey did not reach the shores of Yemen  alive.1 However, the actual death toll is probably much higher; the coastline is  long, and neither all boats nor all the dead bodies are detected.

While most attention, especially in Europe, has focused on migrants and refugees  coming via the Mediterranean, the tragedy unfolding in the Gulf of Aden is largely  ignored by the international community and Western media. With this report, MSF aims  to raise awareness about the plight of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants arriving  on the southern coast of Yemen.

In September 2007, MSF established a project on the southern shores of Yemen to  provide medical, psychological and humanitarian assistance to new arrivals. A system  of focal points in strategic villages along the coast serves as alert system,  allowing MSF mobile teams to intervene rapidly once an arrival has been signalled. In  addition to providing emergency assistance on the shore, MSF operates the medical  facility in the newly established reception centre at Ahwar. Since the beginning of  the project, in September 2007, until the end of April 2008, MSF has provided  assistance to over 6,000 refugees and migrants arriving on the shore of Yemen.

This report documents the medical and humanitarian consequences of the perilous  journey, in particular of the abuses by the smugglers. MSF teams have treated  patients for injuries from severe beatings, dehydration and respiratory problems.  Many patients presented with general body pains and headaches ­physical  manifestations of the psychological consequences of the extreme hardships of the  journey. Many survivors have not only been through traumatic events themselves but  have lost loved ones from violence or drowning. This report is based on medical and  counseling data collected during MSF's operations and on the more than 250  testimonies gathered from new arrivals. People arrive exhausted, many of them ill and  emotionally shattered. They told MSF harrowing stories of death and survival. Boats  designed to carry 30 to 40 people at the most are packed with over 100 passengers,  many of them stuck in small windowless storage places in the hold. People are forced  to sit in the same position without moving and are, in the large majority of cases,  deprived of food and water.

From nine out of ten boats, beatings were reported, the most common implements being  sticks, pipes, belt buckles and sometimes also rifle buts and knives. Women and  children are not spared.

Conditions are so harsh that deaths during the trip were confirmed from one third of  the boats. The main causes were severe beatings, lack of food and water and  suffocation from being in the hold of the boats. Several interviewees also reported  cases where the smugglers threw passengers, including young children, overboard. Also  cases of suicide were reported where passengers jumped ship out of desperation and  fear.

Arrival on the Yemeni shores is exceedingly hazardous, as the smugglers take extreme  measures to avoid being detected by the Yemeni security forces. In almost half the  interviews, passengers reported that the boats did not come close to the shore and  that they were forced to disembark in deep water. If passengers are afraid and refuse  to jump, they are beaten and thrown into the sea. As many people, especially those  coming from the interior of Ethiopia or Somalia, cannot swim, deaths from drowning  are frequent. The majority of boats come towards the shore at night to avoid being  spotted by the Yemeni military, which further exacerbates the risk of drowning.  Almost one third of the respondents reported deaths from drowning. In two cases MSF  provided assistance to survivors from boats where the majority of the passengers, 100  people or more, had drowned or were missing.

The majority of those crossing were aware of the risks, but told MSF that they had no  choice. For them taking the dangerous trip does not constitute an option among  several, but their only survival strategy to escape violence and destitution The  majority of those interviewed listed multiple reasons for leaving, with violence and  insecurity being the main one, followed by poverty and lack of work. About two thirds  of the new arrivals were Somalis and one third Ethiopians. The majority of those  crossing the Gulf of Aden were men, but over twenty percent were women. Most of them  were young, in their mid-twenties, but MSF also encountered some older people as well  as young children. Over half of the new arrivals interviewed were married. Families  are frequently separated, with one or several family members taking the journey and  the others staying behind, sometimes because they could not afford to travel all at  the same time.

Before reaching Bossaso, the port of embarkation in the Northeast of Somalia, people  have already been through a dangerous and expensive journey. There are around 100  checkpoints along the road from Mogadishu to Bossaso, and many reported being  threatened and having to pay bribes. They also described attacks by armed robbers and  cases of killings. In Bossaso, the new arrivals faced precarious living conditions  and increasing insecurity.

Yemen traditionally has been welcoming to the new arrivals, especially Somalis. The  Yemeni Government recognizes Somalis as prima facie refugees. Thus Somalis do not  need to undergo individual status determination. However, newly arrived Ethiopians  are considered illegal and subject to deportation, without a distinction made between  migrants and asylum seekers. Thus, Ethiopians are afraid of being arrested and many  of them start moving from the shore when they are still exhausted and weak.

The high influx of refugees and migrants poses a major challenge for Yemen. To date,  the humanitarian response to those arriving at the shore as well as to the refugees  and migrants already in Yemen has been far from adequate. More international  assistance is urgently needed. Also, the response capacity of actors assisting  refugees and migrants arriving on the coast needs to be strengthened. Few actors are  present and there is an urgent need for additional organizations to intervene. UNHCR  should increase its presence on the coast and assume a more pro-active, stronger role  in fulfilling its protection mandate. Conditions in the Ahwar Reception Centre  regarding registration, shelter and food and transportation should be improved. Also,  new arrivals need to be provided with information about the options open to them in  their respective languages.

Yemen is signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its  1967 Protocol, the only country on the Arab peninsula to have acceded to these  international instruments. However implementation at the national level is lacking  and the Government of Yemen is urged to play a stronger role regarding its  responsibilities for the protection of and humanitarian assistance for refugees,  asylum seekers and migrants. The capacity of local and national authorities needs to  be strengthened to respond to the needs of new arrivals. Non-Somalis should be  allowed access to asylum procedures.

As long as conflict, poverty and drought in the Horn of Africa persist, people will  continue to flee. Refugees and migrants must be provided with alternatives to putting  themselves at the hands of brutal smugglers. The international community, governments  and other actors should make every effort to address the humanitarian needs of the  migrants and refugees concerned.

Doctors Without Borders

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