A/HRC/7/26 Page 15 The independent expert wishes to note that there is a divergence of opinion between Somali authorities and the international community about exact IDP figures, and that accurate figures are difficult to establish given often cyclical population movements and insecurity. 57. It was again brought to the attention of the independent expert that internally displaced persons were subject to threats, intimidation, looting, assault and sexual and gender-based violence. Due to a lack of humanitarian access, thousands of IDPs went without any form of assistance for weeks, living in the open and often forced to pay a “shade tax” to shelter from the sun and the coming rainy season. Many were and are forced to live in crowded camps where there is a lack of water, food, sanitation, basic health services and shelter and where there exist infectious diseases, like cholera. 58. It has been reported that several thousand IDPs have at various times this past year also returned to Mogadishu, when there has been a lull in the fighting. There are, however, reports that some returnees have been prevented from returning to their homes and that some are facing discrimination, confiscation of property, lack of compensation or forced relocation. There is also an ongoing issue whereby the Government has been forcibly evicting IDPs from public buildings in Mogadishu and Kismayo without offering acceptable alternatives. 59. As he has done so in the past, the independent expert maintains that Somali authorities should accept greater responsibility for the IDP population and their protection, and the international community should not be considered a substitute. Nevertheless, the United Nations and donors should increase their assistance and presence with respect to IDPs in Somalia and should be more active. V. “MIXED MIGRATION” 60. Last year, over 23,000 “boat people” made the crossing from Bossaso in “Puntland” across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen. It is estimated that about 10,000 of these people are from Somalia. As at November 2007, it was reported that 497 people died and 524 went missing in their attempts to migrate. (IASC Migration Task Force). It is also reported that a sizeable group of the migrants are trafficked women and children. 61. During his mission, the independent expert received updates about the apparent increase in the number of migrants arriving in the north-eastern port of Bossaso in “Puntland”, hoping to make the crossing to Yemen, and from there, on to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. The term “mixed migration” is used because the migrants can be from various backgrounds, countries and ethnic groups, and while the causes of their migration can be economic, nomadic or forced, the migration patterns are usually linked to violent conflict and political instability in the region. He heard that many migrants became victims of attacks, theft, harassment or sexual assault in their attempt to reach the port town by road or during their “stay” in Bossaso awaiting passage. Crowded onto fishing boats, there was also the risk that they would be denied food, water and air or that human traffickers would verbally and physically abuse their human cargo or throw passengers overboard to their deaths. The independent expert deplores the conditions the migrants are forced to endure and strongly denounces those who profit from their desperation. 62. On 13 June 2007 at a parallel event during the fifth session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the independent expert chaired a panel discussion on the situation of human rights in