Eritrean authorities continue to afflict Yemeni fishermen

HODEIDA, Sep. 07 (Saba) - The Eritrean authorities continue to arrest Yemeni fishing boats and harass their crews, this time fifty Yemeni fishermen are back on a collapsing boat after they were
seized with their boats while fishing in the country's territorial waters.

Calling
the Alsahwa
website, the released, who have arrived at the Khuba port in Luhaya, Hodeida, said
armed Eritrean people, dubbing them as pirates, infiltrated into Yemen waters and
forced
' us to go with them to Eritrea. We were taken to the Meswa'a area and held for ten
days. "We were intimidated and insulted,' they said, adding the Eritrean people had
confiscated
our boats and properties on our boats." The fishermen have urged the Yemeni
government to take action to stop the Eritrean piracy against them which has left
them without
tools to help their families live properly. "We have become beggars after the
Eritrean took our boats which are the only way to bring food and other living needs
for our
families, and they are demanding large sums to set them free," they said. We are
Yemenis and you, the government, must intervene to help us after we have become
unable to
provide bread for our children, they added. In recent years, the Eritrean
authorities seized hundreds of Yemeni fishermen, confiscating their boats and
deporting them in
a horrible way. And now, the Yemeni fishermen are waiting for action by their
government. FR