( CNN ) -- At least 10 people being smuggled by boat died in the Gulf of Aden `` after a two-day journey from Somalia to Yemen , '' the United Nations ' refugee agency said Tuesday . `` Ten Ethiopians suffocated en route to Yemen as the smugglers crammed and confined 25 people to the engine room with no ventilation , '' the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said . `` Survivors claim that their bodies were thrown into the sea some seven hours after departure . '' There were reports that another four people reportedly died in waves , the agency said . This reportedly happened as `` smugglers , fearing detection by the Yemeni navy , forced the remaining passengers to disembark too far from the coast . After the exhausting trip they were simply too tired to swim and succumbed to the rough sea . '' The Horn of Africa has been wracked by warfare , famine and political instability , conditions that have spurred flight . More than 9,000 Somalis and 27,000 Ethiopians have arrived in Yemen by boat so far this year . Some of the passengers found on Yemen 's shore near Al Hamra said the smuggler 's boat left Bosaso in the Puntland region of northern Somalia on Sunday . There were 101 survivors . `` We condemn the unscrupulous and inhumane treatment of refugees and others who are desperately seeking to flee the violence , human rights abuses and seriously debilitating life options in the Horn of Africa , '' said Erika Feller , UNHCR 's assistant high commissioner for protection . `` We have witnessed similar , isolated , individual incidents before utter disregard for human life . '' The agency said 108 people `` are known to have drowned or fallen victim to risky crossings on the Gulf of Aden since the beginning of the year .
10 Ethiopians suffocated after smugglers crammed the engine room . There were reports of another four people dying in waves . The Horn of Africa has endured famine , warfare and political instability .