Somali war, food shortages spur Yemen refugee spike

GENEVA (Reuters) - Food shortages and violence in Somalia have caused a spike in the number of people fleeing across the treacherous Gulf of Aden to Yemen, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

Jennifer Pagonis, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that more than 15,300 people arrived in Yemen aboard smugglers' boats in the first four months of this year, compared to about 7,100 in the same period in 2007.

"The surge in arrivals early this year was largely due to the continuing conflict in Somalia and the use of new smuggling routes from Somalia to Yemen, and across the Red Sea from Djibouti," Pagonis told a news conference in Geneva.

"Many of the new arrivals also tell of crop losses due to drought, which forced them to leave home," she said.

Yemen is seen by many Africans as a gateway to other parts of the Middle East and the West.

The UNHCR said that fewer people appeared to be dying on the hazardous Gulf of Aden voyage than in the past, with boats less crowded than in previous years and some migrants reporting being given food and water during the crossing.

Last year more than 1,400 people, mainly Somalis and Ethiopians, perished attempting the journey, with desperate passengers beaten, pushed overboard and doused with acid by brutal smugglers, according to the agency.

The influx of Somali refugees is adding to a host of financial and economic problems facing Yemen, one of the poorest countries outside Africa.

(Reporting by Laura MacInnis; editing by Sami Aboudi)