The U.N refugee agency said Friday that its staff in Yemen has recorded the arrival of more than 30,000 refugees and migrants by sea from the Horn of Africa since the beginning of the year. The number compares to 33,634 arrivals over the same time period in 2012. UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva that most of this year's arrivals were Ethiopian nationals, with the rest coming from Somalia and a very small number from other African countries. “In total, and since 2006 when UNHCR began gathering data, close to half a million people (477,000) have arrived in Yemen by taking the perilous boat journey from the Horn of Africa," Edwards said. Hundreds have died over the years making the journey. Recorded arrivals in Yemen of refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants have been rising in each of the past six years. Last year, 107,500 people made the journey.
