Some 50,000 migrants risked sea crossing from Somalia in 2008

GENEVA (AFP) – More than 50,000 migrants resorted to smugglers for the treacherous sea crossing between Somalia and Yemen in 2008, an increase of 70 percent over the previous year, the UN refugee agency said Friday.

At least 590 people drowned and another 359 were reported missing during the crossing of the shark-infested Gulf of Aden, Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.

"The increase in arrivals reflects the desperate situation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, a region scarred by civil war, political instability, famine and poverty," Redmond told reporters.

"Most of the deaths were due to drowning after passengers were forced overboard in treacherous waters far off the Yemen coast in a bid by the smugglers to avoid detection by Yemen authorities," he added.

The previous year 29,500 people were known to have made the crossing and 1,400 died.

The crossing takes two days at best and is made especially dangerous by sharks, strong currents and inhumane conditions on poorly maintained vessels open to the elements.

The UNHCR said it was strengthening of reception conditions in Yemen and carrying out information campaigns in the Horn of Africa to warn of the dangers of using smugglers.