The humanitarian crisis in Yemen is increasing along with the increasing number of refugees

“Our resources are very, very, very limited and our stock will run out soon,” said Abdusattor Esoev, Head of Mission of the UN migration agency in Yemen, IOM.

In just two weeks since clashes erupted between Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces and Iran-backed Houthi militia, more than 112,000 people have been displaced in Aden, Hudaydah, Abyan and Ta’iz.Taiz.

Years of conflict, economic collapse and environmental disaster have displaced nearly 4.8 million Yemenis, according to to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

Rapidly escalating hostilities along Yemen’s west coast have also forced more than 3,000 people to make a dangerous boat journey across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to safety in Djibouti, where the communities hosting them risk being overwhelmed.

Save lives

“Yemeni civilians have borne the brunt of the return to full-scale hostilities and We urge all parties and those with influence over them to act immediately to defuse tensions, protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian access. Preventing further loss of life must take priority,” said Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UN human rights office. OHCHR.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, warned that the delivery of UN humanitarian aid in Houthi-held areas had become “untenable”, with UN personnel detained and the global body’s offices occupied by representatives of Yemeni opposition forces.

Locked

“Starting today, 73 UN personnel remain arbitrarily detained by de facto Houthi authorities, some of them since 2021. “In addition, five former UN personnel and dozens of personnel from non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and diplomatic missions remain detained,” continued Ms. Vellucci.

Echoing concerns about the humanitarian crisis, IOM’s head of mission in Yemen, Mr. Esoev, urged the international community “to come to Yemen’s aid” by providing much-needed support including food, shelter, health, water and sanitation to all people displaced by the violence.

Give me shelter

He recounted the testimony of a woman with four small children who became a refugee in Taiz, where she gave birth to a baby in the open, “without shelter, medical care or other assistance”.

For protection, the family found torn pieces of plastic tarpaulin “almost covering their heads. This is a real case that we see in the field,” the IOM official said.

Before the latest escalation in Yemen, nearly half of the country’s 41 million people needed aid, and one in two people were in government-controlled areas and at high levels of hunger, according to the UN-backed food insecurity experts’ Integrated Food Security Phase Classification.IPC) platforms.

Also a briefing from Yemen, the UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPAhighlighted increasing concern for many female-led households where the mother is the sole breadwinnerlike Aziza, in Ras Al-Arah.

“She came from Mocha with her four daughters and she was one of those who had to flee under shelling, burned by the shelling, and did not stop running until she could reach a safe place,” said Francesco Galtieri, Country Representative, UNFPA.

“He told us he was exhausted, and he really hoped that besides preserving their lives, there would be something else they could build on.”

This emergency has increased health needs across Yemen where the UN World Health Organization (WHO)WHO) stressed that the country is already facing “multiple co-occurring health risks”, including cholera, measles, dengue fever, diphtheria, malnutrition and trauma.

In an assessment carried out before the escalation of conflict, “of more than 5,000 health service delivery units, only 60 were fully functional,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

Dangerous crossing

Apart from refugees in Yemen, thousands of others sought safety in Djibouti by crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Most of the arrivals were reported in Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule and Godoria.

“At the reception center, the new arrivals told how they fled from sudden bombings, shelling, gunfire and fear for their lives; the mothers quickly gathered their children and whatever they couldsaid Sandrine Desamours, Representative in Djibouti, for the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. “We saw them arriving with few belongings, some arriving without their family members. And others were also arriving for the second time, after leaving Yemen during the 2015 crisis.”

UN refugee agency officials noted that many of those arriving had left behind family members in Yemen but “hoped to be able to return to Yemen to pick them up. Unfortunately… there is a fuel shortage in Yemen and they cannot return.”

In some cases, the Djibouti Coast Guard has provided fuel to some ships stranded on the high seas and towed others to safety. “We are discussing with the Government various ways to provide assistance so that people can reach the coast and receive protection, peace, security and assistance,” continued Ms. Desamours.

IOM Head of Mission in Djibouti, Alexandre Coissac, explained that the arrival of 3,000 refugees from Yemen was a major challenge for “a generous country that already hosts a large number of refugees”.