Somali Refugees Forbidden to Go Ashore in Yemen
SANA, Yemen — A ship crowded with 2,500 Somali refugees limped Monday into a remote Yemeni port, where the refugees received their first food and water in several days but were forbidden to go ashore.
Several hours later, the ship headed on from Mukalla to Aden, about 300 miles to the southwest, French naval officials said. U.N. workers in Aden were putting up tents and digging latrines on the beach to prepare for the refugees.
There was no immediate confirmation of reports that as many as 100 people died during the Samaa’s harrowing six-day, 1,200-mile voyage from Somalia with little or no food or water.
Yemeni officials said the ship was ordered Monday evening to leave Mukalla, which was not equipped to handle the refugees, after being provided with fish, flour, milk, water and fuel for the ship.
French naval officials in Paris said the Samaa was headed for Aden accompanied by the French corvette Commandant Ducuing, which arrived from Djibouti with emergency food, water and medicine.
About 100 refugees were reported to be very sick, said Sylvana Foa, a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency in Geneva.
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