UNHCR has expressed concern over the death of 47 Ethiopians who drowned on Lake Malawi when the boat in which they were sailing capsized.
UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edward said this during a press briefing, on Friday 22 June at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
Reports indicate that at least 60 Ethiopians drowned in a boat capsizing incident on Lake Malawi. The
exact number of deaths has not been determined.
According to the reports , villagers around the lake found a dead body on Monday and
buried it. On Tuesday another corpse was floating on the lake and the
villagers also buried it. On Wednesday several bodies were seen floating
on Lake Malawi and the police became involved and picked them up. The
bodies were decomposed and were buried immediately.
According to Edward Six migrants who survived the ordeal are being interviewed by police
at Karonga.
He disclosed that the boat left Tanzania on Sunday. "The government
of Malawi has arrested three Malawians on suspicion that they
facilitated the movement of the group, in collaboration with fellow
Tanzanians." said Edward
"UNHCR has been seeing increased use of boats among migrants and
asylum seekers traveling southwards from the Horn of Africa since
January 2010 when a group of 106 Somalis arrived in the Cabo Delgado
coast of Mozambique" said Edward
"Sadly, this is not the only boat disaster this week that has come to
our attention. Our office in Canberra issued a statement overnight
relating to a boat accident between Indonesia and Australia in which a
number of people – presumed to be asylum seekers – lost their lives." worried Edward
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