NAIROBI, July 10 (Reuters) - At least 367 people died in the first six months of this year making the perilous boat journey from Somalia to Yemen in search of safety or a better life, the United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday.

UNHCR said it had recorded the arrival in Yemen of 77 smuggling boats carrying more than 8,600 refugees -- mostly Somalis and Ethiopians -- during the first half of 2007.

"During that period, at least 367 people died making the crossing, while 118 remain missing," it said in a report.

Many of those who lost their lives had paid smugglers $50 for the voyage, but were forced off the boats in deep water and drowned trying to swim to shore, the agency said.

"Others were beaten to death by club-wielding smugglers, or attacked by sharks after being thrown overboard," it said. "Many bodies were buried on Yemeni beaches by local fishermen."

UNHCR said the flow of boatpeople to Yemen from Somalia had temporarily halted because the Gulf of Aden was too rough to make the crossing in July and August. Smugglers usually operate in the area from September to June.

It said a crackdown on smugglers in northern Somalia in late 2006, combined with more Yemeni patrols on the coast, had only forced traffickers to use different routes and drop-off points.

AlertNet news is provided by