Berlin: The UN refugee agency says more than 92,000 people made the perilous sea crossing from the Horn of Africa to Yemen last year, one of the highest annual totals of the past decade.
The Geneva-based agency says two thirds of the arrivals happened after March 2015, when the conflict in Yemen began. Most are from Ethiopia or Somalia.
Spokesman Adrian Edwards said Tuesday that 95 people died during the crossings last year, the second-highest number recorded since 2006. This year alone 36 people have already drowned.
Edwards said “many new arrivals are misinformed about the severity of the conflict” even though the agency has warned of the dangers they face in Yemen.
Along with 2.5 million Yemenis displaced by the conflict, the country hosts 266,000 refugees.