GENEVA, Switzerland, April 10 (UPI) -- A U.N. refugee agency reported 34 Ethiopians and Somalis drowned after being dumped overboard while being smuggled to Yemen.
The U.N. High Commission for Refugees report issued Tuesday in Switzerland said the incidents happened Friday on the Yemeni coast near Bir Ali involving 365 refugees.
Witnesses and survivors said two of the boats were dropping passengers off near shore when they came under fire from Yemeni authorities. The ships moved out to sea and 22 people were forced overboard and drowned.
A third boat approached the coast and forced its passengers overboard far from shore and another 12 people drowned, the report said. Passengers told aid officials they had been beaten during the two-day voyage across the Gulf of Aden, and at least two men jumped overboard to avoid beatings.
All of the dead were reportedly buried on the beach, the agency said.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 5,600 people have landed on the Yemeni coast and at least 200 people have died.
