This blog is intended to go along with Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, by John R. Weeks, published by Cengage Learning. The latest edition is the 13th (it will be out in January 2020), but this blog is meant to complement any edition of the book by showing the way in which demographic issues are regularly in the news.

You can download an iPhone app for the 13th edition from the App Store (search for Weeks Population).

If you are a user of my textbook and would like to suggest a blog post idea, please email me at: john.weeks@sdsu.edu

Friday, January 7, 2011

Ethiopian migrants drown in Gulf of Aden

Life is not easy in Ethiopia, one of the world's most rapidly growing and poorest countries. Thus, it is not surprising that many look for a better life elsewhere. A favorite route is through Somalia to Yemen, and from there to to Saudi Arabia or even possibly Europe. But, getting smuggled illegally into other other countries is always a risky business and the BBC has reported that as many as 80 Ethiopians drowned when their over-crowded boats capsized in bad weather before reaching Yemen.

Thousands of people attempt the dangerous journey from Africa across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen every year.
The UN's refugee agency says more than 74,000 Africans arrived in Yemen in 2009, fleeing "desperate situations of civil war, political instability, poverty, famine and drought in the Horn of Africa".
Yemen is seen as a gateway to a better life in the Middle East or Europe, but people smugglers often crowd the migrants onto old and unseaworthy vessels.
Hundreds of would-be migrants die before reaching their destination.

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