20100417
africanews

Security forces in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in north eastern Somalia arrested about 113 illegal Ethiopian migrants in a 48-hour raid in the coastal areas, security officials said. Ethiopian migrants were arrested as they are planning crossing the red sea between Somalia and Yemen, officials said.

Puntland security minister Yusuf Ahmed Kheyr told reporters that security forces have carried operation against the smugglers in coastal areas in the commercial town of Bosaso.

“This is a clear message to those exploiting human lives by involving smuggling and risking their lives," Puntland security minister Yusuf Ahmed Kheyr said.

"If they don't stop smuggling people they will regret the consequences", he warned.
The officials threatened to continue the operations to crack down on the illegal migrants in Puntland.

"They are Ethiopians and we will return them to their country safely", Bari province governor Abdihafid Ali Yusuf also said.
Thousands of Ethiopians and Somalis were in Bosasso, with the plan of crossing the red sea into Yemen to look for better life.
Hundreds of them have died in recent years as they tried to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
About 74,000 migrants from the Horn of Africa used to travel to the Red Sea to Yemen in the last year, which rise 50% in 2008, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The number of Somali migrants remained same in 2008 and 2009 but the migrants from Ethiopia increased to 42,000 in 2009. 5,032 migrants have crossed in the Red sea to Yemen while four have died in the newly year of 2010.

The crisis and poverty were forcing Somalis and Ethiopians to carry out dangerous journeys to better places.

The fighting in Somalia has killed over 19,000 Somalis since 2007 and displaced another 1.5 million while southern Ethiopia is also mired rebellions against the Ethiopian government.