Refugees 'Being Fed To Sharks'

Sana’a, Yemen, October 21, 2006 – At least 126 East Africans died or disappeared while crossing shark-infested waters to Yemen in recent weeks, sometimes after being thrown overboard by smugglers, said the United Nations refugee agency on Friday.

"Passengers on one boat reported that five Ethiopians were beaten by the smugglers, thrown overboard and attacked by sharks," said Ron Redmond, a spokesperson for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Since the beginning of the seasonal exodus in early September, during calm sea conditions on the Gulf of Aden, UNHCR staff have counted 5 700 Ethiopians, Sudanese and Somalis arriving by 56 boats in Yemen. The majority were from Somalia.

Sixty-four people were killed and 62 were missing, based on witness accounts from fellow refugees and reports from Yemeni authorities, the agency said.

In Lahti, Finland, on Friday, Spain's prime minister Jose Luis Zapatero prodded his EU counterparts to show solidarity with the bloc's southern nations, calling for more boats, planes and money to help stem the flow of migrants from Africa landing on European shores.

Zapatero and other Mediterranean countries have also called for stepped-up joint patrols to intercept boatloads of migrants.

Spain and Italy bear the brunt of the current flow of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa making the dangerous trek to the African coast and getting on rickety boats in a bid to make it to Europe. Thousands have died along the way.

A record 27 000 people have been intercepted this year trying to reach Spain's Canary Islands, and 12 000 have been caught in waters near Sicily.

Germany , Austria and others blame Spain for the crisis, citing Madrid's decision last year to grant amnesty to about 600 000 illegal migrants without informing its EU partners. Critics say the amnesty has made Europe even more of a magnet for migrants.

Source: AFP