U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) for 25 June - 22 July 2020 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/SOUTHEAST ASIA Weekly Piracy Update for 16 to 22 July 2020

These might look a little fuzzy, but if you click on the "full screen" button on the lower right of the image (yes, the one with four arrows pointing outward), they magically become readable.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 November - 20 December 2017 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly (PAWW) Report for 14 - 20 December 2017

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 November - 20 Decembe... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis an... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 13 November - 13 December 2017 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly (PAWW) Report for 7 - 13 December 2017

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 13 November - 13 December... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and W... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 October - 15 November 2017 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly (PAWW) Report for 9 - 15 November 2017

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 October - 15 November... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and... by lawofsea on Scribd

Call Them Mass Murderers: Criminals Who Prey on Migrants/Refugees

Reportedly, the death toll of migrants/refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean for the year 2016 was over 4000 that we know about. Here's a report on how 74 died this year allegedly due to the criminal acts of some who are indifferent to human life, from the UK Express Migrants DROWN after traffickers STEAL their boat's motor at gunpoint:

The bodies of 74 drowned African migrants have washed ashore in Libya, leading to speculation people traffickers removed the motor from their boat during the treacherous Mediterranean crossing.

It is claimed the refugees making the treacherous trip to Europe from Libya came into difficulty after human traffickers intercepted their vessel at sea and stole its motor at gunpoint, according to the Libya Observer.

However, a spokesman for Libya's Red Crescent said the circumstances of the drowning was unknown.

Let's suppose that the report of the theft of the motor is not true - even then, putting people in unsafe boats while charging them for transport to "safety" is just as criminal.

The problem needs to be solved on the shore and that means putting an end to those who trade on the hopes of these desperate peoples. The problem does not lie in the European community, but in the Third World hellholes these migrants/refugees are fleeing.

UNHCR map of Migrant Routes

UNHCR site discussing the Mediterranean situation here

Fishing Boat Slavery

MarineLink on the under-reported story of "shanghaied" fishing boat crews and a threat by the U.S. to do something:

Forced labor abuses play out on Thai-owned fishing trawlers each day. And the victims — typically destitute men from Myanmar or Cambodia lured by coyotes full of false promises — continue to wash ashore with accounts of torture and casual homicide, reports Global Post.
***
Though carried out on lawless seas, these crimes risk entangling supermarkets in America, where one in six pounds of seafood is imported from Thailand.

If you think slavery is a thing of the past, you have your head in the sand. You might note that until about 100 years ago (well after slavery was outlawed), the U.S. had similar practices for some of its merchant ships.

This sort of abuse goes right along with human trafficking scum who prey upon refugees and the sort of pirates who would attack refugees at sea - as was the case with the Vietnamese "boat people" back in the 1970s.

U.S. Department of State site on "Trafficking in Persons 2013 Report":

The TVPA* defines “severe forms of trafficking in persons” as:
***
b. 
the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
***
This Report documents male forced labor victims who have been identified in a variety of countries and sectors: Central Asian men exploited in forced labor in Russia; West African boys forced to beg for corrupt religious teachers in Koranic schools; boys in forced labor in illegal drug production and transportation in the United Kingdom and Mexico. In South Asia, entire families are enslaved in debt bondage in agriculture, brick kilns, rice mills, and stone quarries. In South America and Africa, male victims of trafficking are exploited in agriculture, constructiohttp://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2013/210551.htmn, mining and logging, among other industries. The forced labor of men and boys from Burma, and Cambodia on Asian fishing vessels has been the topic of increased press coverage over the last year.

More here:

A report released by an international organization in January 2011 noted prevalent forced labor conditions, including debt bondage, among Cambodian and Burmese individuals recruited—some forcefully or through fraud—for work in the Thai fishing industry. According to the report, Burmese, Cambodian, and Thai men were trafficked onto Thai fishing boats that traveled throughout Southeast Asia and beyond, where they remained at sea for up to several years, not paid, forced to work 18 to 20 hours per day for seven days a week, and threatened and physically beaten. Similarly, an earlier UN survey found that 29 of 49 (58 percent) surveyed migrant fishermen trafficked aboard Thai fishing boats had reported witnessing a fellow fishermen killed by boat captains in instances when they were too weak or sick to work. As fishing is an unregulated industry region-wide, fishermen typically did not have written employment contracts with their employers. Men from Thailand, Burma, and Cambodia were forced to work on Thai-flagged fishing boats in Thai and international waters and were rescued from countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste. During the year, more than 150 Cambodian and Burmese victims were rescued from Thai fishing vessels in countries around the world, though this represented only a fraction of the total number of Southeast Asian men believed to be trafficked onto fishing boats. In early 2013, an organization that assists victims in Cambodia assessed this form of trafficking was rising. Cambodian and Burmese workers are increasingly unwilling to work in the Thai fishing industry due to dangerous work conditions and isolation, which makes them more vulnerable to exploitation; the Government of Thailand announced plans during the year to import Bangladeshi workers to fill the labor shortage this has caused. During the year, there were reports that some Rohingya asylum seekers from Burma were smuggled into Thailand en route to Malaysia and ultimately sold into forced labor, allegedly with the assistance of Thai civilian and military officials.

While I am innately suspicious of reports from many "international organizations," the allegations of this section seem to be supported by more than one source. An older report:

Growing evidence drawn from the testimonies of escaped fishermen affirms that DSFI trafficking victims routinely spend a year or more at sea on fishing vessels that operate in the far reaches of the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Thailand. Boats rarely return to port to offload their catch, leaving little scope for regulatory oversight or inspection by Thai authorities. While working conditions vary from vessel to vessel, research conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Mirror Foundation, and other organizations suggests that a significant percentage of the men and boys trafficked to Thai ships are subject to round-the-clock working hours, cramped quarters, poor nutrition, low wages, debt bondage, physical abuse and intimidation, and other hardships that amount to virtual enslavement. Some trafficking victims reportedly meet violent deaths if they become too ill to work or demand to be released. For example, a 2009 United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking study reported that half the members of a group of Cambodian DSFI trafficking victims surveyed had personally witnessed the execution of fellow crew members.

And an NPR report, "Confined To A Thai Fishing Boat, For Three Years" with its follow-on here.

Another of many reasons to support local aquaculture for food fish. Or to demand that the seafood company whose products you buy certify that its crews are all at sea (or wherever) voluntarily.

Why the Kidnapped cover? You may recall the hero was taken by force on a ship to be sold into "servitude."

*TVPA= Trafficking and Violence Protection Act

Ecuador: Another Al Qaeda Enabler?

Interesting post on how Ecaudor's new "open immigration" policy may pose a risk to the U.S. and Canada at "How Ecuador's immigration policy helps al Qaeda" at Shadow Government:

The government of Ecuador has once again crossed the line between irresponsible policies and ideologically driven actions that have created a serious security problem not only for its citizens but also for the entire Western Hemisphere. The disarray created in Ecuador's immigration policy has permitted transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups -- possibly including al Qaeda -- to potentially use the country as a base of operations with the ultimate objective of harming the United States.
***

While there is no evidence to show that the Correa government established the policy of "open borders" in an effort to attract criminal organizations, that has been the result. On the other hand, there is no evidence of Correa wanting to stem the flow. These examples show how Rafael Correa's Ecuador is becoming a failed state, hosting all sorts of dangerous actors. They also help to understand the context in which various financial, commercial, and energy agreements are being developed by Ecuador with the governments of Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.

Navy Gulf of Aden Rescue Effort Saves 61 but 24 missing or dead

Eighty-five people in a disabled "migrant" boat adrift in the Gulf of Aden . . . resulted in a rescue and tragedy as set out here:

USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81), assigned to
Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, identified a skiff drifting in the Gulf of Aden Sept. 26.

The skiff was initially discovered at approximately 7:30 a.m. local by the Republic of Korea vessel, ROKN Wan Geon (DDG 978), which passed the skiff's position to Winston S. Churchill, operating in the vicinity.

The skiff was carrying approximately 85 passengers, consisting of 10 Somalis and 75 Ethiopians.

Once on station, CTF 151 commander, Turkish navy Rear Adm. Sinan Ertugrul, directed Winston S. Churchill to render assistance to the skiff. Using a rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), Churchill crew members boarded the skiff and immediately rendered assistance, providing food and water to the skiff's passengers.

Churchill crew members determined the engines were inoperable and attempted to effect repairs, but were unsuccessful.

The RHIB then began towing the vessel to safety out of the Gulf's maritime traffic corridor and toward the coast of Somalia.

At 8:30 local Sept. 27, while transferring humanitarian supplies to the skiff, the passengers rushed to one side and the skiff began taking on water, quickly capsizing and sinking rapidly, leaving all 85 passengers in the water. Winston S. Churchill immediately began conducting search and rescue operations using an additional RHIB assisted by an Australian maritime patrol aircraft.

Despite the effort, approximately 13 passengers drowned, while 61 passengers were rescued and brought safely on board Winston S. Churchill. Eight passengers have been listed as missing.

Take a close look at the boat jammed with people, figure that they were being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden in a human smuggling operation . . . this tragedy was written long before Churchill showed up.

Sad, very sad.

Illegal migrant boat sinks off Libya

When greed, desperate people seeking a better life, and an over loaded boat meet you have a recipe for a disaster at sea. Like the one reported here:

Initial reports suggested that at least 300 — and possibly up to 500 — people may have perished.

Later, however, another official from the International Organization for Migration, Laurence Hart, said in a telephone interview from Tripoli, Libya, that the number of fatalities may have been lower than first thought.

One vessel carrying 356 migrants was towed back to Libya after reporting it was in difficulty. It was helped to safety by personnel on an oil-drilling platform who sent a rescue boat, Mr. Hart said.

A second vessel, carrying 257 people sank, he said, and up to 23 people were rescued. The rest were listed as missing some 30 miles offshore. Rescue operations by the Libyan authorities have been halted, Mr. Hart said.

Mr. Hart said there had been a huge exodus of would-be migrants from Libya in recent days. Some had landed in Italy, some had been intercepted and some had perished, he said..

Most of the migrants pay smugglers relatively large amounts of money for a place on the ships, but are often abandoned at sea. The vessels frequently are not seaworthy and do not carry life rafts. “They are mostly overcrowded which makes them unseaworthy and puts the people traveling on them at severe risk,” Mr. Hart said.

That still leaves 200+ people in the water and presumed dead.

Yemen's Anti-Piracy Unit

Reported here:

Yemen has formed a maritime unit to fight piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. The Yemen Coast Guard has established an anti-piracy unit to battle an increase in piracy in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea. Officials said the unit would contain 1,600 special forces soldiers who are well trained to fight piracy and 16 high speed patrol boats purchased from Australia. “The aim of the deployment is to enhance the protection of ships and stop Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Bab Al Mandab Strait,” a Coast Guard official said.

More here:

Officials said each patrol boat would contain 60 marines trained to combat piracy. They said the vessels would contain artillery, radar and advanced communications.

"We have already trained officers on detecting and monitoring pirates and recognizing vessels in distress," the official said.

Officials said the Yemeni force would work with regional and Western navies, including France, Japan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

The Yemeni Coast Guard has conducted training with the U.S. Coast Guard and other coalition forces. See here.

Photo:

GULF OF OMAN - Coast Guardsmen aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Wrangell (WPB 1332) (right) pick up members of their crew involved in a training exercise with the Yemen coast guard patrol craft Saber-7 (center). The Wrangell, along with Dutch support ship HNLMS Amsterdam (A-836) (left) and USS Typhoon (PC5), is underway performing maritime security operations in and around the Arabian Sea. Official U.S. Navy Photo by Journalist 3rd Class Bobby Northnagle.

Among the missions of the Yemeni force is rescuing refugees from Africa trying to reach Yemen but who put their fates in the hands of crooked human traffickers. See here:

At least 52 Somalis died after smugglers abandoned them on a boat in the dangerous waters of the Gulf of Aden, the U.N. refugee agency said Sunday. Seventy-one people survived the 18-day ordeal.

The boat broke down within hours of leaving Somalia on Sept. 3, bound for Yemen and carrying more than 100 Somalis, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement. The crew abandoned the boat for another craft and never returned for the refugees, who threw bodies overboard as fellow passengers died, the UNHCR said.

The boat eventually drifted close enough to southern Yemen that three passengers tried to swim ashore. Two alerted rescuers; the third never made it.

The Yemeni coast guard rescued the survivors Sept. 21, the statement said.

UPDATE: More info here, especially at the last link in Jim Dolbow's post.

Somalia: Smugglers kill refugees off Yemen

Reported at MSNBC.com as Smugglers force refugees off boat:

Smugglers threw two children overboard and forced dozens of other African refugees to swim to shore in the middle of the night, leaving more than three dozen dead, the United Nations and an aid group said Wednesday.

The bodies of 29 refugees washed ashore near Wadi al-Barakin in Yemen on Tuesday after smugglers forced them to jump into the water, according to the international humanitarian medical organization Medecins Sans Frontieres. Most of those who died could not swim, survivors told the aid group.

About 120 passengers had boarded the boat in Somalia, survivors said. Up to 10 died during the journey: Several people were suffocated and three people, two of whom were children, were thrown overboard by the smugglers, the group said.

Additional information here:

The United Nations refugee agency said the number of people crossing from the Horn of Africa to Yemen in August was three times the number of arrivals for the same month last year, as smuggling resumed earlier than usual due to calmer weather in the Gulf of Aden.

A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said 59 boats brought more than 1,700 people to the coasts of Yemen last month.

“That’s triple the number of arrivals for August 2007, when 633 people landed in 10 boats,” Ron Redmond told reporters in Geneva. “Smuggling normally subsides between May and September because of stormy weather.”

Mr. Redmond said 12 people on one boat died at the end of August, eight of them after jumping into the sea when a gun battle erupted between the Yemeni military and smugglers near the coast.

Most of the passengers jumped overboard and eight drowned. Four others died during the voyage across the Gulf of Aden. One Somali man reportedly committed suicide by jumping overboard, while three others suffocated in the hold of the boat.

According to UNHCR, almost 24,270 people have made the dangerous voyage across the Gulf of Aden this year aboard smugglers’ boats. More than 177 people died, and 225 people remain missing. At the same time last year, there were 9,153 arrivals, 267 dead and 118 missing.

See also here:

At least 26 people died when smugglers transporting them across the Gulf of Aden from the Horn of Africa forced them overboard off the coast of Yemen, UNHCR staff in the region reported today. Several other people are missing.

Survivors said the boat carrying about 120 people stopped offshore in deep water on Tuesday and all passengers were forced overboard at gunpoint. They said those who refused were pushed and beaten. Some were killed. Survivors said they had earlier been assured by the smugglers that a smaller vessel would take them ashore, but none arrived.

At least 74 survivors made it to the beach and were taken to UNHCR's reception center at Ahwar. Authorities said Wednesday morning that 26 bodies had so far been recovered and 20 others were still missing.

Photo caption:

Deadly Reminder: bodies washed up on the Yemeni coast. An unusually high number of people risked the Gulf of Aden crossing in August. © UNHCR/SHS

Maritime Security: Human Smuggler Boat Caught by Recreational Boater

Reported at The Log.com:

At 9:30 a.m., the Coast Guard received a VHF radio report from a recreational boater about a vessel severely overloaded with passengers, making way about 18 miles off Point Loma.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter, Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) patrol boats, and the Coast Guard Cutter Haddock converged on the scene to find 20 suspected illegal immigrants crammed aboard the 20-foot skiff, La Estrella.

The suspects were turned over to CBP marine interdiction agents for further processing. La Estrella was towed by the cutter back to Coast Guard Station San Diego, where it remains impounded.

“This is a good example of how a vigilant boater can directly contribute to the protection of our homeland,” said Capt Tom Farris, commander of Coast Guard Sector San Diego. “We appreciate the assistance and invite the help of America’s boating public to assist the Coast Guard in keeping our waterways safe and secure.”

Gulf of Aden: USS Russell rescues smuggled people

A humanitarian rescue in the Gulf of Aden courtesy of USS Russell(DDG-9) as set here

USS Russell (DDG 59) responded to a vessel in distress between Bossasso, Somalia and the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden June 8.

A Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 air asset notified Russell of the small boat's distress call. Russell, operating nearby, proceeded at maximum speed and arrived on-scene to assist the vessel. The 45-foot small boat experienced serious engine problems, leaving it unable to operate at sea, and had been adrift for two days.

There were approximately 70 personnel on board the vessel, some of whom were in need of immediate medical attention. Seven personnel were transferred to Russell and treated for severe dehydration and malnutrition. The vessel was also re-provisioned for the night and Russell is towing it towards Somalia where the small boat and patients will be turned over to Somali authorities.

Photo credit:

Interior Communications Electrician 3rd Class Nicholas Mason, left, takes vital signs of a patient brought aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG 59) as Ens. Melanie Chambers, Ens. Lisa Bydairk and Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Matthew Thompson assist. Russell responded to a vessel in distress Sunday, June 8, 2008 between Bassasso, Somalia and the Yemeni coast in the Gulf of Aden. The 45-foot small boat had serious engine problems leaving it adrift for two days. U.S. Navy photo (Released)

I hope the "Somali authorities" sort out who the smugglers are and carry out an appropriate punishment.

Somalia: Puntland home of the pirates?

One man finds corruption in a part of Somalia here:

Not surprisingly, the official line among Puntland’s government ministers was that “piracy is a global problem that found headway in Somalia’s porous waters in recent years.” One after another, they told me that Puntland isn’t tooled to combat this problem, because pirates are well-armed, well-financed and multi-jurisdictional. (That’s to say that pirates operate in places like Haradheere in central Somalia).

But surprisingly, and below the official line, there’s a wide belief among Puntlanders that “pirates [they don’t even use this word!] are heroes, because they are protecting Somalia’s unguarded resources, looted by international companies.”

Quite the contrary, so many people, including former government officials and journalists told me that pirates have deep connections in the highest ranks in Puntland’s regime. In fact, people could list names of government ministers whose own militia are the pirates.

Few weeks ago, when pirates kidnapped a Japanese vessel outside Somalia’s international waters (which is quite routine, and, remarkably, counter-argument to those who say that pirates are “guarding” our resources), U.S. and French naval ships cornered the pirates near Boosaaso, the business capital of Puntland. The pirates, I was told, were able to disembark from the kidnapped ship every night to chew Khat and hang out with friends and family members, while other “substitute” pirates replaced them!

Eventually, the ordeal ended with the Japanese tanker being released unharmed, and pirates getting away with an undisclosed amount of ransom. The pirates’ front-men are senior government officials, who typically convince kidnapped ships to pay ransom (usually less then than pirates originally demanded). I found that this scenario occurred no less than three dozen times in the last few years.
***
n addition to piracy, human trafficking is pandemic in Puntland. More than 35,000 people have perished since 1991 trying to cross the short, but dangerous distance between Boosaaso and Yemen, using makeshift rafts.

Even back in the days when President Yusuf was the president of Puntland, the administration there made a noise that it will crack down on traffickers, whenever the international attention was zeroing on the issue.

However, hardly anything has been done. In fact, human traffickers, who like pirates have deep connections to the corridors of power, have flourished. In Boosaaso and nearby towns, journalists and other sources sent me the photos of the homes of well-known human traffickers and pirates, whose villas and latest-model Land Cruisers have dazzled me.

Last week, when Gwen Le Gouil, a French journalist tried to do an investigative report on human trafficking, he was kidnapped for nine grueling days. Remarkably, he was seized on his way to Shimbiraale, the infamous village known for its human and weapons traffickers. Insiders told me that his kidnappers were Puntland intelligence officers associated with both human traffickers and pirates.

Human Trafficking: 51+ dead off Turkey

As reported here:

A boat carrying around 70 illegal immigrants, who were trying to make their way to Greece, sank off Turkey's Aegean coast resulting in the death of 51 people thus far while six have been rescued, the Doğan news agency reported yesterday.

The boat is believed to have capsized in rough weather off the coast of Seferihisar, a southern district of İzmir, local Governor Orhan Sefik Güldibi said. Six of the immigrants were rescued early Monday morning. The rescued immigrants were hospitalized. The coast guard launched a sea- and land search, but its efforts were hampered by inclement weather conditions.

According to statements of three rescued Palestinians, Yusuf İnad, Ahmet Muhammed Hasan and Amin Şahacgo, there were around 70 immigrants on the 15-meter long boat. "The survivors said there were between 60 and 70 people on board. We are afraid that the death toll will rise," Güldibi said.

UPDATE:

The captain of the boat that sank in the Aegean on Saturday left its passengers to die, Sabah's top story said yesterday. The boat carrying would-be illegal migrants to the nearby Greek island of Samos, according to accounts of the few survivors, handed the helm to the immigrants and told them to keep a straight heading, promising they would reach Samos in two hours. He later jumped ship. The survivors said his name was "Captain Ali," although the police have so far failed to identify him. The immigrants panicked after the captain left and the boat capsized due to the strong southern wind. İzmir police had warned the gendarmerie in Seferihisar, the district the boat departed from, that human smugglers would be active in coming days, Sabah wrote.

Human trafficking: Busted!

In addition to going after pirates, looks like some other scum are getting their due as set out in British and Yemeni Forces Stop Human Traffickers in Gulf of Aden:

A number of suspected human smugglers were arrested, and two vessels were seized in a joint operation between Coalition warship HMS Richmond and the Yemeni Coastguard in the Gulf of Aden Nov. 19.

Having covertly tracked two suspicious dhows throughout the day, Richmond followed the two smuggling boats as they headed toward Somalia. Under the cover of darkness, Richmond coordinated a close-quarters intercept.

It’s believed the boats had been used to smuggle humans into Yemen from Somalia.

“Monitoring the suspected smuggling vessels from afar using the ship’s tracking capabilities, we could clearly see some suspicious activity underway,” said Richmond’s Commanding Officer, Commander Piers Hurrell. “Using the stealthy features of the Type 23 Frigate, 13 suspected human smugglers were arrested, and two vessels seized. The message this sends to others involved in this illegal activity is quite clear.”

The U.K., U.S. and German navies are working with the Yemeni government under the umbrella of the Pakistani-commanded Combined Task Force 150 to promote lawful use of the maritime environment in the Gulf of Aden and the wider region to reduce the activities of human smugglers and pirates.

According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees figures, nearly 25,000 refugees have made the journey from war-torn Somalia to Yemen and there have been more than 1,000 recorded deaths.

More on human trafficking here. And a typical story here:

More than 60 migrants, mostly Somalians, drowned while crossing the Gulf of Aden on their way to Yemen in a desperate attempt to flee battles back home, a security official and witnesses said on Thursday.

Twenty-five others survived and managed to reach the Yemeni southern shores of Redhoum in the Shabwah province, after their boat capsized in the waters on Wednesday night, a security official here said.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

He said that fishermen informed the authorities on Wednesday night of seeing bodies floating in the water. The army and the local citizens took part in a rescue operation.

The 25 survivors were taken to the refugee camp in the city of Lahij north of Aden. Witnesses said the dead were buried in mass graves Thursday by the local people and the soldiers.

It was not immediately clear how the boat had capsized and some survivors claimed there were six refugees missing.

The UN refugee agency has reported that at least 439 migrants have died while crossing the Gulf of Aden this year and at least another 489 are missing.

Migrants from the Horn of Africa - particularly from Somalia where ongoing violence between the UN-supported interim government and Islamic groups has caused thousands to flee their homes - regularly face abuse at the hands of smugglers at sea.

Some are attacked during the journey and thrown overboard into shark-infested waters, while smugglers often force passengers to disembark offshore to avoid Yemeni coast guard patrols.

The high season for human trafficking across the Gulf usually runs from early September to May when the sea is less stormy than during summer. More than 10,000 people have reportedly arrived in Yemen by boat this year.

Time to take the fight to the Somali pirates?

Maybe. See here:

Britain has launched a drive for an international accord granting the Royal Navy and Western warships rights to enter Somali territorial waters in pursuit of pirate gangs linked to al-Qa’eda.

Pirate activity has soared off the Horn of Africa this year with the emergence of highly sophisticated gangs that use fast patrol boats, launched from “mother ships” to board cargo vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean.

The lucrative multi-million-dollar kidnap and ransom trade, which is dominated by al-Qa’eda, according to terrorism experts, threatens to disrupt international shipping lanes used to carry cargo from the Far East to Europe.
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A meeting in London of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations’ watchdog of the seas, is to consider a resolution today instructing Somalia’s interim government to drop its legal right to block foreign navies from entering its waters.

A declaration would pave the way for Royal Navy vessels to rescue ships held for ransom in Somali coves or pursue pirates involved in attacks on ships in international waters.

A spokesman for the regional naval command in Bahrain said that passage of the IMO resolution would be an important step to “help deter piracy off the coast of Somalia”.

***

Pirates used the haven provided by Somalia’s lack of leadership to defy 46 warships from 20 countries in the international coalition centred around America’s Bahrain-based 5th fleet.

“Piracy has become a lucrative business based on ransom demands and cargo theft inside Somali territory,” said Cdre Keith Winstanley, the deputy commander of the coalition. “It has not been possible to suppress it because vessels pirated, sometimes a long way off the coast, are held somewhere in the vicinity of the Somali coast.”

It is a murky situation and even the figure of 26 reported incidents is thought to vastly underestimate the extent of the problem.

While vast sums of money are involved - ransoms can exceed £500,000 — Cdre Winstanley said that official concern had been expressed over intelligence reports that little of the money filtered down to the Somali regions.

“Piracy and terrorism is a difficult picture to build,” he said. “The extent of money diverted to terrorism is not known, but I don’t see evidence that the money is going into houses, schools and jobs onshore.”

Complicating the picture for the navies involved is a human wave of refugees on the move out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 200,000 have fled fighting in the last month, many of whom are ready to pay $150 (£75) to be smuggled across the Gulf of Aden.

Sea Crimes: Human Smuggling

Scores More People Killed By Smugglers Off Yemen's Coast, UN Says:

Scores of people seeking a better life have been reportedly killed by brutal human smugglers during the perilous Gulf of Aden journey from Somalia to Yemen, adding to a mounting annual death toll that is already in the hundreds, a spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.

"Up to 66 people drowned Sunday in the Gulf of Aden after being forced overboard by smugglers off the coast of Yemen, survivors said," UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond reported.

The tragedy involved two smugglers' boats that left the Somali coastal town of Bossaso on Saturday with 244 people aboard, mostly Somalis and Ethiopians. "The two vessels reached the Yemen coast off Hawrat Al Shatee on Sunday, survivors said. Passengers were forced into deep water and many drowned, they said."

A total of 28 bodies were buried on the beach, while 38 (29 Ethiopians and nine Somalis) remain missing, according to UNHCR.

"So far this year, more than 20,000 people have made the perilous voyage across the Gulf of Aden in boats operated by ruthless smugglers operating from Somali ports," Mr. Redmond said. At least 439 people have died this year and another 489 are missing and feared dead.

"Survivors of the weekend tragedy said the crew of one of the crowded boats had harshly beaten passengers during the voyage, injuring several of them. After being forced into deep water off the Yemeni coast, a total of 178 people managed to make it to shore.

Arrival did not signal safety; some reported being robbed by Yemeni military personnel. Aid workers arriving on the scene provided food and water before transferring the group to UNHCR's Mayfaa reception centre.

UN link here.

Sea crimes: Illegal migrants abandoned at sea, in need of help

Urgent help need to resuce 59 people abandoned at sea off Libya as they were attempting to reach Italy as set out here:

Coastguards in Falmouth, Cornwall, have launched a rescue operation to try to save 59 people abandoned on an inflatable boat off the coast of Libya.

An Ethiopian based in the UK appealed to them for help after receiving a call by satellite phone from the boat.

A Coastguard spokesman said the group, which includes four pregnant women, were cast adrift after being falsely told they were in Italian waters.

They were, in fact, only 64 miles from the north African coast.

The group are understood to have left north Africa two days ago, trying to get to Europe.

This is a truly awful episode in human trafficking
Simon Rabett, rescue centre co-ordinator

The spokesman said there were 15 women, seven children and 37 men on board.

"The craft is taking water and it has no engine," he said.

"The weather has worsened, they have no food or water.

"They had all their money taken from them."

Coastguards located the craft early on Wednesday and were working with both the Italian and Maltese authorities and with the British Embassy in Tripoli to get assistance.

UPDATE: For what it's worth, this Wikipedia article makes a distinction between "human trafficking" and "human smuggling" as does this U.S. Dept of State site:

Those who are smuggled have consented to be smuggled. Trafficking victims, according to the UNODC, "have either never consented or, if they initially consented, that consent has been rendered meaningless by the coercive, deceptive or abusive actions of the traffickers."

Another major difference, according to the UNODC, "is that smuggling ends with the arrival of the migrants at their destination, whereas trafficking involves the ongoing exploitation of the victims in some manner to generate illicit profits for the traffickers."

The United Nations' Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Supplementing the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime defines the "smuggling of migrants" as "the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State Party of which the person is not a national or permanent resident."

The Protocol mentioned above states, in part:

Smuggling by sea is not only dangerous for migrants, but is also a highly complex legal area for authorities, since crime at sea falls under international law. In October 1999, the Italian police, navy and coastguard tracked down a boat, which they suspected of smuggling, making its way from Albania to the Italian coastline. In an effort to escape authorities and lighten his load, the helmsman, an Albanian smuggler, threw his human cargo overboard. An estimated 100 migrants--Albanians, Turkish and Iraqi Kurds, Pakistanis and Kosovars--had been hiding in a wooden hold of the boat. Several victims were rescued, but many drowned. Every night Italian officials head for the water, capturing at least one boatload in human cargo, and sometimes even up to 20. While the trade in illegal commodities, such as drugs, cigarettes and weapons, is covered under international agreements, the trade in human cargo at sea and the treatment of victims is an area that is not yet regulated. As a result, a set of separate clauses was included in the Protocol to fight against the smuggling of migrants by sea.

The Protocol sets forth that Member States are required to cooperate in order to prevent and suppress the smuggling of migrants by sea, in accordance with international law. Measures include:

* When requested, helping to stop a vessel suspected of smuggling migrants;

* Confirming registry of a vessel strongly suspected of smuggling migrants and then requesting authorization from the flag State to take appropriate measures, such as boarding and searching the vessel;

In addition to the above, several safeguard clauses have been built in under Article 9 ensuring:

* That the migrants on board a vessel are treated safely and humanely;

* Using clearly marked aircraft and ships identifiable as being on government service in order to take actions at sea in cases of migrant smuggling.

Interpol site on human smuggling. The U.S. has a Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center. Exactly how "international law" is applied in such case is something I am researching.

UPDATE2: At least an abstract of an article on the impact of the Protocol says it might work, with a huge but:

Since this paper is written from a refugee protection perspective, it therefore examines who refugees are, why they resort to the use of people smugglers, and the dangers they face in doing so. It also considers the subsequent challenge for the international community to safeguard the rights of smuggled refugees and asylum seekers within the broader context of migration management, particularly in regard to the right of non-refoulement and access to protection. Here, two ‘challenges’ appear to have arisen: firstly the manner by which states differentiate between refugees and asylum seekers and undocumented migrants (or so-called ‘economic migrants’), who also resort to, or are exploited by, people smugglers and traffickers; and secondly, the procedures and methods states develop to prevent their asylum systems from being abused for immigration purposes. Accordingly, the Smuggling Protocol is examined to ascertain whether it can and will solve these aforementioned difficulties, and especially whether it adequately safeguards refugee rights. This paper concludes that whilst the Smuggling Protocol has the potential to do such, its application (and the extent of that application) ultimately depends on the will of the State Parties, and thus could amount to nothing more than a list of ‘good intentions’. (emphasis added)

UPDATE3: A defense of human smuggling on an abstract level here. I doubt the author would defend the pond scum who left these "smugglees" on the high seas.

UPDATE4: Nice look at the issues here.