As the conflict in Yemen worsens, the Somali authorities said they are extremely worried over the safety and current living situations of thousands of Somalis living and working in Yemen.
The distress from the Somali transitional federal government coincides as five Somali refugees were killed by stray bullets during Yemen armed forces and protestors clashes.
Somali foreign minister, Dr. Mohamed Abdullahi Omar told the state-run radio on Thursday that the Somali diplomatic mission in Yemen is collaborating with the Yemen authorities and humanitarian agencies to secure the Somali refugees.
“The government is making more efforts as much as it can, it has close contacts on the issues of Somali refugees with the Yemen ambassador to Somalia, while the Somali diplomatic mission in Yemen is also paying a lot of efforts to save Somali refugees there from the ongoing uprising against Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Salah,” Somali foreign minister Dr. Omaar said.
The foreign minister also appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to assist the defenseless Somali refugees in Yemen.
There are tens of thousands of Somali refugees in Yemen who are mostly accommodated by UN refugee camps. There are also hundreds who were given scholarship by the Yemen government.
Thousands of Africans mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia enter Yemen yearly on smuggling boats across the Red-Sea in search of works and better. The refugees use Yemen as an entrance to Saudi Arabia.
Statistics made by UNHCR shows that around 50000 Somali refugees have arrived in Yemen since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia in 1991.
