Sana'a, Yemen  - The number of refuge-seekers arriving on the Yemeni coasts on smugglers' boats from Somalia increased massively in the past four months as conflict continues to plague the Horn of Africa country, a UN refugee agency said Tuesday

By April 20, more than 15,300 people arrived in Yemen on 324 boats, and 361 people were killed or missing during those hazardous voyages, the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.

During the same period in 2007, a total of 7,166 people arrived in Yemen on 60 boats, and approximately the same number perished, the statement said.

It said the surge in arrivals was largely due to the continuing conflict in Somalia and the use of new smuggling routes from Somalia to Yemen and across the Gulf of Aden.

By the end of 2007, the smugglers had started taking migrants, mostly Somalis, across the Red Sea from Djibouti.

Many of the new arrivals also tell of crop losses due to drought, which forced them to leave home, the statement added.

UNHCR, however, said its records indicate a reduced number of deaths at sea in relation to the number of vessels making the voyage. The boats also seem less crowded than in previous years.

It said it had stepped up its operations in Yemen under a 17 million-dollar scheme that includes extra staff, additional shelters and assistance for refugees arriving to Yemen.

Hundreds of Somali and Ethiopian migrants perish every year making the dangerous crossing of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen on small boats run by smugglers operating from Somali ports.

Smugglers, fearing capture by Yemeni coastguards, often brutally force passengers to jump off at gunpoint as they near the end of their three-day trip across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia to Yemen.

Last year, more than 113,000 people, mostly Somalis, made the perilous voyage to Yemen, with over 1,400 deaths.

Since the outbreak of civil war in Somalia, Yemen has become a magnet for refugees fleeing violence and drought and a gateway to the oil-rich countries of the Arabian peninsula and Europe. (dpa)