A/HRC/15/48 bomb was detonated at a police building where Al–Shabaab was holding a press conference. There were also concerns about two incidents involving Government authorities and related to the ongoing conflict. A reporter and cameraman were reportedly detained and questioned after they took pictures of their colleague who was wounded in crossfire on 1 July 2010. Most serious was the arrest warrant issued against a Somali New York Times journalist after the newspaper published an article about the recruitment and use of children by Government forces in June. D. Displacement of population 24. According to a UNHCR report, as a result of continued violence and insecurity, in the first seven months of 2010, almost 50,065 Somalis sought refuge in neighbouring countries and over 200,000 were internally displaced, mainly in south–central Somalia, in particular from Mogadishu.3 That makes Somalia the country generating the highest number of refugees in the world after Afghanistan and Iraq. As of the end of July 2010, there were 600,484 Somali refugees, mainly hosted by Kenya, Yemen, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Tanzania and Uganda. In addition 1.4 million Somalis were internally displaced within the country.4 25. A further indication of the desperation of the people living in war–stricken areas of Somalia was the flight of tens of thousands of people from the country who risked their lives by undertaking dangerous journeys across the Gulf of Aden to reach Yemen. Many died during the journey, while others were subjected to abuse and injured at the hands of unscrupulous smugglers. While there were some Ethiopians among them, the majority of persons attempting to use these routes were from Somalia. The rates of human smuggling continued to rise every year. While in 2007, 29,500 people tried to cross the Gulf of Aden, in 2008 the number rose to 50,000 – with more than 1,000 dying during the journey – and to 77,802 in 2009. Since January 2010, more than 21,000 individuals had crossed into Yemen. 26. Indeed, human trafficking, especially for the purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic servitude, both inside and outside the country, remains an issue of serious concern. In May 2010, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a fact sheet highlighting the widespread nature of the problem and the vulnerability of IDPs, economic migrants, and especially women and children from very poor families relating to this practice. In collaboration with the Somaliland and Puntland authorities and civil society, IOM has developed counter–trafficking programmes. E. Sexual and gender–based violence 27. While such violence is normally underreported, according to a likely confidential database kept by United Nations agencies, some 409 incidents of rape, attempted rape/sexual assault, forced prostitution and domestic violence took place in the period January to June 2010 in Somalia. Assessments conducted revealed that there was a high prevalence of sexual violence in IDP settlements, where victims were generally of minority clan origin, bereft of clan protection and often forced to engage in risky coping mechanisms. 3 4 8 See “UNHCR Somalia Briefing Sheet”, July 2010. Ibid.