SANAA, Yemen, 13 April 2008 - Twenty-two migrants drowned off the coast of Yemen while trying to cross from Somalia to the Arabian peninsula state, a Yemeni official said on Sunday.

The crew of the ship carrying around 120 migrants forced them to jump into the sea off Yemen's coastline to swim to land, an official in the southern province of Abyan told AFP.

The official, who declined to be named, added that 12 migrants were still missing. The rest of the group survived and were being cared for in the port city of Aden.

More than 1,400 clandestine immigrants died trying to cross the Gulf of Aden from Africa in 2007, while more than 28,300 people managed to reach the Yemeni coast, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in December.

The crossing takes two days at best and is made especially dangerous by shark-infested waters, strong currents and inhumane conditions on poorly maintained vessels open to the elements.

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