children, somali refugees, play on a rare tree in the Kharaz refugee camp In Yemen on Tuesday November the 27th 2007. THe camp, former military barracks, hosts 9000 somali refugees, most of which have become stable residents, completely dependent on humanitarian donations. Somalis are allowed to work in Yemen, but due to the a 35% unemployment rate in the country, most of them remain jobless.///
Ever since the collapse of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 Somali men, women and children have been arriving at the port of Bosasso to buy passage in small open fishing boats to Yemen, where they are given automatic political asylum.
The boat trip, costing from 70 to 150 usd per person, can be often fatal due to the roughness of the sea, the overcrowded boats and the merciless of the smugglers.
On the night of Nov 29 2007 a small fishing boat while trying to download it's load of refugees a few hundred meters from the Yemeni shores of Meifa Haja, flipped over and was overwhelmed by the constant waves. of its 130 passengers, only 42 reached the UNHCR ( United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ) refugee center in Meifa. 30 bodies where recovered the next day. the rest are still unaccounted for.
UNHCR estimates more than 80.000 somali refugees live in the country residing mostly in shanty towns in Sana'a' and Aden.
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