Yemen hosts African refugees despite economic woes, social problems

Yemen hosts African refugees despite economic woes, social problems
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Yemen hosts thousands of African refugees fleeing unrest and poverty in their countries every year - with Somalis topping the list - despite its own economic woes and assorted problems.

"Somalis are recognized as refugees, others are not," said Claire Bourgois, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) representative in Yemen. "They can go to refugee camps and primary schools but if they go to urban areas, they have to pay their own way, their own rent."

Although the UNHCR (http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home) helps out with micro financing, technical training, and health care, the refugees are literally between a rock and a hard place.

2009-02-28-Somalirefugees1Rice.jpg Young Somali refugee in Yemen (Rice)

Yemen is one of the Arab world's poorest countries with a high illiteracy rate and countless social problems, not least of which is the prevalence of "qat" chewing that virtually brings all work to a standstill after lunch every day.

Qat is considered a drug by many international organizations but its use is legal in Yemen. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/magda-abufadil/qat-increasingly-turns-on_b_164905.html)

Most Somali refugees are illiterate young men who pay boat smugglers for transport across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but women and children are also making the perilous voyage, risking being dumped overboard if Yemeni naval patrols threaten the vessels.

They spend four to seven days on rickety boats without food and water and are often beaten and abused.

"In 2008, there were 19,423 Somalis, of whom 8,093 were women," Bourgois told me in her Sana'a office, adding that it was a big jump from 2006. "Women usually come alone and 50% of them don't know anyone in Yemen."

In 2006, 10,716 Somali men and 2,756 women arrived in Yemen, the UNHCR reported. The figure jumped to 11,480 men and 1,902 women in 2007.

2009-02-28-1UNHCRYemenRefugees.jpg Figures of refugees in Yemen (UNHCR)

Like the men, the 18-24-year-old women usually want to go to Saudi Arabia, Yemen's larger and richer northern neighbor, for work opportunities, or to other countries in the Arabian Gulf region.

They all view Yemen as a transit point, although untold registered and undocumented refugees have spent up to 20 years in Yemen.

Bourgois said many of the women end up as prostitutes in a desperate attempt to make a living. The International Labor Organization (www.ilo.org) works with Yemen's Labor Ministry to cut exploitation and abuse of women.

Friends and groups come to Yemen together, childless for the most part, but some families arrive with two or three children, and children ages 14-17 also flee their countries unaccompanied seeking a better life.

2009-02-28-UNHCRsClaireBourgoisAbuFadil.jpgUNHCR's Claire Bourgois (Abu-Fadil)

UNHCR numbers differ from those of the Yemeni government, with the Yemenis downplaying the extent of the problem.

The government says 70,000 refugees entered Yemen last year but the UNHCR registered 138,000 at receptions areas. Yemeni officials' estimates are based on boats coming in but the figures are misleading since refugees also sneak in and don't register with authorities or the UNHCR.

Registration only began in 2000 although the first refugees are thought to have started trickling in as early as 1992 without being registered, Bourgois said.

The transit centers apprise the refugees of their rights and duties. The refugees and asylum seekers have to register to get any help.

Some 95% of the non-Somalis are Ethiopians. About 15,000 of them registered in 2008.

Among the Ethiopians, most come for economic reasons, while others ask for refugee status.

2009-02-28-EthiopianmaidsleavingYemenAbuFadil.jpgEthiopian maids transit legally to Arab countries through Sana'a airport (Abu-Fadil)

Another 5% of the non-Somalis are Eritreans and Sudanese. The latter group usually represents those escaping the strife in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

2009-02-28-yemenmap.jpg (www.mapsofworld.com)

In 2008, 1% of the estimated 50,000 refugees heading for Yemen never made it, the UNHCR said. Some died en route, and some were killed and then tossed overboard by the smugglers.

"Problems begin as we approach the Yemeni coast," said a mother of four in Sana'a, who with her husband paid $100 dollars for the journey. She recounted how the smugglers killed her spouse and threw him in the sea to avoid returning him to Somalia when the shore patrol shot at their boat, but spared her and the children.

In December 2008, Yemeni coastal patrols increased and controls were tightened, leading smugglers to kill 600 asylum seekers, according to UNHCR figures.

The lucky refugees jump overboard and swim ashore to escape the smugglers and Yemeni patrols.

"I want to live in peace," said Mohammad, a Somali refugee who swam from a boat targeted by Yemeni patrols. Before registering with the UNHCR, he slept on the streets and begged until assistance was provided.

According to India's Frontline magazine, civil unrest and developments in Somalia "can be seen as a defeat for the U.S., but the latter will continue to dabble in the African nation because of its strategic location on the Bab al-Mandeb, a key oil transit waterway between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean."

Sheikh Sharif Sheikh, the leader of a coalition of Islamists and nationalists, was recently elected president of Somalia.

"The UNHCR will set up a permanent register center," Bourgois said of her agency's attempts to help the refugees. "When the refugees arrive, the UNHCR prefers the (Yemeni) government issue them ID cards through the Interior and Foreign Ministries, to be renewed every two years."

The UNHCR tries to discourage the Africans from leaving these centers to avoid deportation from other Arab/Gulf countries where they're not recognized as refugees.

The flow slows down in May, June, and July when the sea is rough and tides prevent smugglers from sailing across the Gulf of Aden.

Some refugees prefer going to Saudi Arabia where they have relatives and contacts. Some are afraid of waiting and being deported or put in detention centers. Some leave without documents to their next destinations.

"The Yemeni government has the right to arrest illegals," notably Ethiopians, Bourgois explained, adding that Yemen is still very open to refugees despite internal problems and economic hardships.

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