Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemen is to host a UN-sponsored conference next week on refugees and migration from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.

The two-day gathering, scheduled to kick off on May 19 in Sana'a, would be attended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, the UNHCR said in a statement.

Guterres will arrive in Yemen Wednesday on a week-long visit that will include a first-hand look at his agency's efforts on behalf of refugees in the Arab state, the statement said.

He is scheduled to visit a refugee camp near the southern port city of Aden and refugee reception centres along the southern coastline.

The conference will bring together senior government officials from Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen and Arab Gulf countries, as well as representatives from the African Union, the European Commission, various UN agencies and non-governmental organizations.

Officials from the breakaway Somaliland and semi-autonomous Puntland will also attend the conference, the UN agency said.

The objectives of the conference include establishing a regional mechanism and long-term plan of action on refugee protection and mixed migration in the Gulf of Aden region, the statement said.

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

More than 360 people died making the dangerous crossing during the first four months of 2008, UNHCR said.

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)