Mogadishu, (insidesomalia.org) - 200 people are believed to have died last weekend after one vessel capsized off the coast of Yemen and another broke up after hitting a rock.

The death toll of the would-be immigrants in this year rose up from 1,212 to 1,400 people, says United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

This comes after Aid agencies are stepping up their information campaigns for migrants and asylum seekers, warning them of the dangers on the journey from Boosaaso, a major human smuggling hot-spot in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland administration

UN refugee agency has begun an advocacy campaign in the Horn of Africa to inform potential migrants about the perils of crossing illegally to Yemen.

Leaflets including drawings as well as text printed in Somali and in three Ethiopian dialects are being disseminated throughout Somalia's Puntland region, while radio spots have been broadcast since October.. The advocacy campaign is currently being extended to South/Central Somalia and Ethiopia.

This has been a tragic year in the Gulf of Aden. As of now we have statistics that more than 1,400 people have died. These are the ones that we have recorded, and there might be more," Astrid van Gendered Start, spokeswoman of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a news briefing as quoted by Reuters News Agency

Migrants are among the groups most exposed to human rights violations in the 21st century and will continue to be so if we do not act now with serious determination," Arbour said in a statement marking International Migrants Day on Tuesday.

So far this year, over 28,000 people have made the perilous voyage from the port city of Boosaaso, in north-eastern Somalia, to Yemen, in an attempt to reach the prosperous Gulf countries and sought safe heaven from the escalating violence and insecurity in the Somali capital, Mogadishu where fighting is going on between Somali government forces backed by Ethiopian army against Islamic fighters.

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