Dozens of bodies reach Yemen shores

Smugglers had thrown migrants into the water

SAN'A, Yemen - Dozens of bodies washed ashore yesterday in Yemen after smugglers threw nearly 150 Somali migrants overboard in shark-infested waters, the latest such tragedy in one of the most lawless stretches of ocean in the world.

The Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the Horn of Africa is notorious for Somali piracy. The hijacking of a freighter carrying a cargo of heavy weapons two weeks ago heightened concern over the chaos in a key shipping route - and prompted NATO on Thursday to send warships to help US Navy vessels patrolling the region.

The latest migrant deaths raised calls for those ships to also act against human trafficking in the same waters off Somalia, a country where there is no government control and armed groups are rampant.

"It's essentially the same problems that allow piracy and smuggling," said Roger Middleton, a specialist on East Africa at the Chatham House think tank in London.

Dire economic conditions and violence in Somalia drive the waves of migrants, while the general lawlessness that gives pirates a free hand also opens the door for smugglers.

"People are very desperate," Middleton said. He welcomed the NATO deployment of ships against piracy, calling it "excellent news" that could also help in stopping human trafficking.

About 32,000 migrants have made the hazardous sea journey to Yemen this year - 22,000 of them Somalis, according to figures from the Yemeni government and the UN refugee agency.

To avoid Yemeni patrols, smugglers often dump their passengers far from shore and force them to swim the rest of the way.

In the latest instance, about 150 migrants departed Somalia on Monday, and when their vessel reached about 3 miles off Yemen's southern Shabwa coast, the smugglers ordered everyone off, said Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.