The Somaliweyn Website reported that Puntland authorities have arrested over 100 intending migrants:
“‘The exact number of the people whom we have arrested is 110, and they are from different nations in Africa, but the leading numbers of the people are from our immediate neighbour Ethiopia, the entire of these people were intending to cross the wide waters between Yemen and Puntland state, and just before they have accomplished their dreams they were apprehended by our security personnel’ said Musse Ahmed Abdurahman the police commissioner of Puntland state speaking to Somaliweyn Website via the wire. The Police commissioner has also added that lately the number of the persons intending to illegally cross the water between Yemen and Puntland has been rapidly mounting….”
IRIN reported: “‘We have begun to force would-be migrants back to their homes for their own safety. I would rather have them back in their homelands than dying at sea,’ said Muse Ghelle Yusuf, governor of Puntland’s Bari region. He said thousands of Ethiopians and Somalis are currently in Bosasso, the commercial capital of Puntland, intending to cross into Yemen.
‘Our estimate is that as of today [29 December 2009] there are 4,000-5,000 migrants in and around Bosasso,’ Yusuf said, noting that 1,000-1,700 have been arriving in the area daily.”
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MIGRANTS AT SEA 