"In collaboration with partners, IOM has begun a series of activities in Somalia’s Puntland to help reduce the annual loss of lives in the Gulf of Aden as thousands of Ethiopian and Somali migrants and asylum seekers attempt to cross from Somalia’s Puntland to Yemen using smuggling networks, and to provide better protection for them along their journey. It is estimated that more than 1,221 people have died so far this year trying to make the journey from the Puntland town of Bossasso to Yemen with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reporting that 26,913 Ethiopians and Somalis in 274 boats managed to survive the crossing. IOM staff will provide information to migrants and asylum seekers of the dangers of their journey along the smuggling routes to Bossasso, a major human smuggling hotspot, while advocating for their rights among local authorities, communities and elders in these areas. The core team will be located in Bossasso and will conduct outreach missions to Garowe in Puntland, the main transit point for Somalis coming from Mogadishu, and to Burao in Somaliland, the main transit point from Ethiopia. The placement of staff along the smuggling routes will also enable IOM to identify the most vulnerable migrants such as unaccompanied minors, victims of trafficking and asylum seekers and to provide them with appropriate assistance before they reach Bossasso. In the case of asylum seekers, IOM will also refer them to UNHCR. In addition, the deployment will allow IOM staff to gather data on migration trends and information to better profile the irregular migrants who make the journey. This will ultimately facilitate an effective response from various humanitarian actors currently involved on the issue, including UNHCR, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Danish Refugee Council. With 40 per cent of those managing to reach Yemen being Ethiopians, IOM and partners will also carry out information campaigns in Ethiopia, particularly in rural communities from which most of the Ethiopian migrants originate and advocate for the rights of migrants in Yemen. Awareness raising efforts in Ethiopia will kick off in Addis Ababa on International Migrants Day on December 18 with a showing of French documentary film-maker Daniel Grandclement’s film, The Martyrs of the Gulf of Aden. For further information, please contact: William Lorenz Mobile: +254 722 709362 E-mail: wlorenz@iom.int