Dozens of Somalis wash up in Yemen

Dozens of bodies washed ashore Friday in Yemen after smugglers threw nearly 150 Somali migrants overboard in shark-infested waters, the latest such tragedy in one of the most lawless stretches of ocean in the world.

The Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the Horn of Africa is notorious for Somali piracy. The hijacking of a freighter carrying a cargo of heavy weapons two weeks ago heightened concern over the chaos in a key shipping route.

It also prompted NATO to send warships to help U.S. Navy vessels already patrolling the region.

The latest migrant deaths raised calls for those ships to also act against human trafficking.

Dire economic conditions and violence in Somalia drive waves of migrants, while the general lawlessness that gives pirates a free hand also opens the door for smugglers.

About 32,000 migrants have made the hazardous journey to Yemen this year -- 22,000 of them Somalis, according to figures from the Yemeni government and the United Nations’ refugee agency.

Smugglers are known to cram dozens of men, women and children onto small boats for the journey, which can take up to three days. To avoid Yemeni patrols, the smugglers often dump their passengers far from shore and force them to swim.

In the latest instance, about 150 migrants left Somalia on Monday, and when their vessel was about three miles off Yemen’s southern coast, the smugglers ordered everyone off, said Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Twelve of the passengers were put on a smaller boat to be taken ashore, while the rest were forced to swim. Redmond told reporters in Geneva that 47 people were believed to have survived but that about 100 were missing and feared drowned.

As of Friday, 30 bodies had been found washed ashore, a Yemeni security official said.