Gulf of Yemen boatpeople motivated by insecurity, poverty at home - Reuters AlertNet, UK - March 27, 2008
Jeilany and fellow Ethiopian passenger Mussa, talking to UNHCR at the May'faa centre, said they and about 120 other desperate people in their boat had each paid smugglers about US$45 to bring them to Yemen.
They claimed that the smugglers took the passengers' food and water and beat them with sticks and an iron bar throughout the harrowing trip. But that wasn't the end of it. "When we got close to the Yemeni shore, they confiscated all of our belongings and forced us off the boat," Jeilany recounted. They arrived with only the clothes on their backs.
Both men are from the Oromo tribe in Ethiopia and said they had been jailed for their political beliefs. They fled, fearing they would be arrested again. Now they just want to recover and apply for asylum.
The two men are not the only ones who have fled their homes because of security concerns. Aisha, who was being registered at the centre with her daughter and three grandchildren hours after arriving aboard a small vessel on a Yemeni beach, fled growing conflict in Somalia. The 60-year-old and her relatives had enjoyed a trouble-free, if exhausting, crossing and were not mistreated en route. Read more.