YEMENI SEAS MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVER FOR EAST AFRICAN REFUGEES

UNCLAS E F T O SANAA 002300



SIPDIS



SENSITIVE NOFORN



EFTO



SIPDIS



DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP AND PRM

CAIRO FOR REFCOORD MARY DOETSCH

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - ADDING CAPTION UNCLAS EFTO



E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: PREF, PHUM, PREL, PGOV, YM

SUBJ: YEMENI SEAS MORE DANGEROUS THAN EVER FOR EAST AFRICAN

REFUGEES



1. (SBU/NF) SUMMARY: The number of East African refugees who have

died attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen has nearly

doubled in 2007. While Yemeni Navy actions appear to have

contributed to the increase, a cooperative Yemen Coast Guard is

working to ameliorate it. As the number of refugees to cross is

unlikely to abate, the best way the USG can work to keep the number

of deaths from rising is to support continuing cooperation with the

YCG. END SUMMARY



2. (SBU/NF) Although the numbers of East African refugees crossing

the Gulf of Aden to Yemen from Somalia in 2007 are comparable to the

28,319 who crossed in 2006, the number of dead and missing has

almost doubled, from 630 in all of 2006 to 1116 as of the end of

November 2007. As Saado Quol, the head of the UNHCR's Aden office,

put it, "this is equivalent to the casualties of last summer's war

in Lebanon, but every year." In a December 9 meeting in Sanaa, Quol

told Conoff he believes there are two related reasons for the

increased numbers of deaths. At the beginning of the year, there

were more than ten incidents of the Yemeni Navy shooting at

smugglers' boats to discourage them from approaching the shore,

probably resulting in at least one refugee death by gunshot and far

more when panicked smugglers threw their human cargo overboard.

Later, to avoid the threat from the Yemeni Navy, smugglers adopted a

strategy of forcing the refugees to swim the last portion of the

journey, dumping them up to five miles from the shore. Often

dehydrated and weakened by the long journey, many refugees never

made it.



3. (SBU/NF) Unlike the Yemeni Navy, the Yemeni Coast Guard (YCG) has

shown real willingness to address the humanitarian concerns

surrounding the refugees' journey (NOTE: The YCG is part of the

Ministry of Interior, not the Ministry of Defense. END NOTE). The

YCG's Gulf of Aden commander, Col. Abdulrahman Mousa, confirmed to

Conoff during a November 26 meeting in Aden that the UNHCR has been

addressing YCG training courses since October 2007.



4. (SBU/NF) On the operational front, cooperation has also increased

between the YCG and Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150),operating in

the Gulf of Aden and ultimately under the command of the Combined

Forces Maritime Component Command (CFMCC) based in Bahrain. On the

heels of a visit to Yemen by CFMCC Commander VADM Cosgriff, CTF 150

and the YCG held a joint exercise from November 11-19. The exercise

was designed to use CTF 150's deep water capability and remote

tracking technology to provide the YCG with the real-time data

necessary to follow smuggling ships covertly. One major goal of this

exercise was to allow the refugees to disembark the smuggling ships

before the YCG approached them to avoid the passengers being thrown

overboard. During the exercise, the YCG apprehended two smuggler

ships and 10 Somali smugglers as they began their return trip

following the refugees' safe disembarkation.



5. (SBU/NF) While lauding the exercise, Quol stressed that the goal

of such efforts should not be to stop the flow of refugees, but to

make the journey safer by "ending the culture of impunity" for

ruthless smuggling gangs. He added that one key element of this was

successful prosecution of captured smugglers. Quol told Conoff that

smugglers often bribe their way out of jail, although the smugglers

captured during the recent exercise were officially charged on

November 28, and are expected to receive fines and short jail

terms.



6. (SBU/NF) COMMENT: The instability in Somalia that is driving most

of the refugee traffic to Yemen is unlikely to change in the near

term. The YCG takes the issue seriously, but its resources are

limited and the growing responsibility of protecting oil and gas

facilities along the Gulf of Aden promises to stretch them further.

Since the Yemeni Navy does not appear to be a willing partner on the

refugee issue, ongoing cooperation with the YCG (whether in terms of

training or material assistance) is currently the best way to

address the humanitarian issues involved with the crossings. A

conference on regional maritime refugee issues currently being

planned by CFMCC for early or mid-2008 is expected to include the

YCG as a key participant, and should be a good next step towards

expanding the relationship. END COMMENT.



SECHE