40 Ethiopians detained in Yemen

SANA'A, April 16 (Saba) - The security authorities
of Yemen have detained 32 Ethiopians, including 14 women, who had entered the
country illegally.
In a press release, Interior Ministry said that its security services had arrested
24 infiltrators of Ethiopia as they were on board a truck belonging to a Yemeni man
suspected
of smuggling Africans in Taiz province.
"The Yemeni suspect has been referred to legal bodies to take lawful procedures
against him", the Ministry made it clear.
The security services also arrested 8 Ethiopians in Saada province, in the far
north. They are put in custody for the investigation.
According to the UN statistics, more than 74,000 African people moved illegally to
Yemen in 2009 with an increase of 50 per cent compared with 2008.
Ethiopians formed majority of those Africans who moved to Yemen in 2009.
The statistics noted that the number of Somalis who reached Yemeni coasts in 2009
was 32800.
People from the Horn of Africa countries continue to flee their ravaged countries
heading to Yemen, with the authorities saying the number of those who have already
arrived
in the country until last year is more 700,000 people.
Yemen has ordered its security services in all coastal cities to close all
waterways to prevent possible infiltration of terrorists from Africa.
Disorders and economic pressures in the African Horn region led to the increase of
the number of refugees who pay for smugglers and take a risky sea trip towards
Yemen.
The African migrants sometimes become a victim of beating, rape, killing or
throwing into the sharks-filled seawater.
YA