Migrants killed by smugglers in Gulf of Aden

       Sixteen migrants died and 49 others are missing and feared dead while making a perilous voyage in smuggling boats across the Gulf of Aden, the UN refugee agency said yesterday.
       Of the dead,11 suffocated, three were fatally beaten by smugglers and two drowned in three separate incidents that occurred in the last 48 hours, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. At least two of the boats had set off from Somalia, but the migrants included non-Somalis, it added.
       Conflict, famine and drought have pushed thousands of people to attempt the risky sea voyage.
       This year alone, 860 boats carrying 43,586 people have attempted the crossing and 273 migrants have drowned or are presumed dead, said the UNHCR.
       In the latest tragedies, survivors from one boat said passengers were "repeatedly beaten and threatened by the smugglers during the journey".
       In another boat, smugglers beat three people to death while 10 died from asphyxiation. An 11th migrant suffocated on another vessel.