The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) confirmed on Monday that at least 29 people are dead and 71 others reported missing after knife-wielding smugglers forced some 450 Somalis and Ethiopians into stormy seas off the coast of Yemen.

In a statement, the UNHCR said the incident, the latest in a series of tragedies involving smugglers' boats carrying people across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, occurred last Thursday along a remote stretch of Yemen coastline at Ras-Alkalb.

It brings the total number of dead and missing in human trafficking cases so far this year in Yemen to 262.

"We are horrified by this latest tragedy," said UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Erika Feller, who just returned from a five-day mission to Yemen to review the agency's operations in the country.

"These brutal smugglers care nothing about the fate of the people. They prey upon both refugees and irregular migrants who are desperate to escape persecution, violence and poverty in the Horn of Africa."

The latest drama follows a tragedy in February in which at least 107 bodies were found along a remote stretch of the Yemen coastline after a people-smuggling boat capsized in one of the deadliest single incidents in a perilous voyage that has brought some 30,000 migrants from Somalia since January last year.

Over 500 people died during that period and at least 300 remain missing.

The UN agency said some of the survivors and other witnesses said four smugglers' boats carrying about 450 passengers approached the coastline early Thursday morning in rough seas and strong currents.

"The smugglers forced the passengers overboard far from shore. Some of the survivors said those who resisted were stabbed and beaten with wooden and steel clubs, then thrown overboard where sharks attacked some. Several recovered bodies showed signs of severe mutilation," it said.

Survivors also reported that several Ethiopian women and at least one Somali were raped and abused by the smugglers during the voyage from Bosaso in Somalia's Puntland region.

Authorities estimate that 74 Ethiopians and 26 Somalis are either dead or missing. Another 57 Ethiopians reportedly reached shore and quickly dispersed, fearing detention by security forces.

The remaining 293 survivors were taken to UNHCR's Mayfa'a Reception Center, where they received medical assistance and other aid.

Since the first of this year, at least 4,400 people have landed on the Yemeni coast and at least 166 people have died. Many remain missing.

Two more boats carrying 330 Somalis and Ethiopians arrived in Yemen on Saturday, but no casualties were reported.

"While we will do all we can to address the humanitarian and protection needs, we fear that until the root causes of poverty, persecution and conflict are addressed, desperate people who have nothing left to lose will continue to risk their lives," Feller said.

The UNHCR and other organizations are also working in the Horn of Africa to encourage authorities to crack down on smuggling and to educate people about the dangers of resorting to smugglers to cross the Gulf of Aden.

But Feller said it will take much more international involvement to improve conditions in the regions of origin.

Source: Xinhua