SANA'A, 8 December 2007 - The International Organization for Migrant (IOM) has stated that more than 1221 Somalis were killed drowning in the see in illegal journeys from the town of Bossasso in Somalia's Puntland to Yemen since the beginning of 2007.

The spokeswoman of IOM, Jemini Pandya, said in a press release Friday that 26,000 Somalis sailed to Yemen on 274 boats of human smugglers, pointing that 40% of those illegal migrants who reached Yemen safely were Ethiopians.

Pandya said the International Organization for Migration is starting a new outreach and information campaign in Puntland in an attempt to daunt Somali and Ethiopian migrants from making such dangerous journeys to Yemen to rescue annual horrible loss of lives.

IOM says the campaign of activities will be launched in Addis Ababa on December 18. It says the activities will include a French film "Victims of the Gulf of Aden."