UN: 10,500 migrants arrive in Yemen since March

Published July 14th, 2015 - 04:30 GMT
African migrants, including Ethiopians, wait near Obok, north of Djibouti's capital, for smugglers' boats to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen. (AFP/Tony Karumba)
African migrants, including Ethiopians, wait near Obok, north of Djibouti's capital, for smugglers' boats to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen. (AFP/Tony Karumba)

The United Nations on Tuesday said thousands of migrants from Ethiopia and other nearby countries are flooding into war-torn Yemen, many of whom were tricked by smugglers into believing the fighting is over, AFP reported.

37,000 migrants have arrived in the impoverished country this year, including 10,500 migrants who arrived after a Saudi-led coalition launched an air campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi militants on March 26, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the U.N.'s Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, told AFP

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Van Der Klaauw said Ethiopians formed the large majority, but that migrants from Somalia, Eritrea, and other nations were also among those headed to Yemen.

"Many are tricked into making the journey by smugglers who tell them that the conflict is over and all is safe in Yemen," the U.N.'s refugee agency, the UNHCR, said in a statement.

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