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People displaced by renewed fighting in Yemen have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, warning of a dramatic rise in humanitarian needs both in Yemen and neighbouring Djibouti, where thousands have sought safety.
“Our resources are very, very, very limited and our stocks will be depleted very soon,” said Abdusattor Esoev, Chief of Mission in Yemen for the International Organization for Migration (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 across Aden, Hudaydah, Abyan and Taiz.
Years of conflict, economic collapse and environmental disasters have already displaced nearly 4.8 million Yemenis, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).
The rapidly escalating hostilities along Yemen’s western coast have also forced more than 3,000 people to embark on dangerous boat journeys across the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to safety in Djibouti, where host communities risk being overwhelmed.
“Yemen civilians are already bearing the consequences of renewed full-scale hostilities and we urge all parties and those with influence over them to act immediately to de-escalate, protect civilians, and facilitate humanitarian access. Preventing further loss of life must take precedence,” 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 assistance in Houthi-controlled areas had become “untenable”, with UN personnel detained and UN premises occupied by representatives of the Yemeni opposition forces.
“As of today, 73 UN personnel remain arbitrarily detained by the Houthi de facto authorities, some of them since 2021. In addition, five former UN personnel and dozens of personnel from non-governmental organisations, civil society organisations, and diplomatic missions remain detained,” Vellucci said.
Echoing concerns over the humanitarian crisis, IOM Chief of Mission in Yemen Esoev urged the international community “to come to Yemen’s aid” with urgently needed support, including food, shelter, healthcare, water and sanitation for people uprooted by the violence.
He recounted the testimony of a woman with four small children who was displaced in Taiz, where she gave birth to a baby in the open “without shelter, medical care and any other assistance”.
For protection, her family found a torn piece of plastic tarpaulin “barely covering their heads”.
“These are the real cases that we are seeing in the field,” the IOM official said.
Before the latest escalation in Yemen, nearly half of the country’s 41 million people needed humanitarian assistance, while one in two people in government-controlled areas faced high levels of hunger, according to the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) platform.
Also briefing from Yemen, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency (UNFPA) highlighted growing concerns for women-led households in which mothers are the sole breadwinners, such as Aziza in Ras Al-Arah.
“She came from Mocha with her four daughters and she’s one of those who had to run away under the shelling, got burned because of the shelling, and did not stop running until she could reach a safe place,” said Francesco Galtieri, UNFPA Country Representative.
“She told us that she’s exhausted, and she really hopes that beyond having kept their lives, there will be something else they can build.”
The emergency has increased health needs across Yemen, where the World Health Organization (WHO) said the country was already facing “multiple concurrent health risks”, including cholera, measles, dengue, diphtheria, malnutrition and trauma.
In an assessment conducted before the escalation in fighting, “already out of more than 5,000 health service delivery units, only 60 were fully functioning,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told journalists in Geneva.
In addition to those displaced within Yemen, thousands more have sought safety in Djibouti by crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Most arrivals have been reported in Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule and Godoria.
“At the reception centres, the new arrivals recount fleeing sudden bombardment, shelling, gunfire and having to fear for their lives; mothers quickly gathering their children and whatever they can,” said Sandrine Desamours, UNHCR Representative in Djibouti.
“We saw them arrive with very little, some arriving without their family members. And others are also arriving for the second time, having already fled Yemen during the 2015 crisis,” she said.
The UNHCR official noted that many of the men who arrived had left family members behind in Yemen but were “hoping to be able to go back to Yemen to retrieve them”.
“Unfortunately…there is a shortage of fuel in Yemen and they are not able to return,” she said.
In some cases, the Djibouti Coast Guard has provided fuel to boats stranded at sea and towed others to safety.
“We are discussing with the Government various ways that we can provide assistance so that people can reach the shores and are able to be provided with protection, peace, safety, and assistance,” Desamours said.
IOM Chief of Mission in Djibouti Alexandre Coissac said the arrival of around 3,000 refugees from Yemen represented a significant challenge to “a generous country that is already hosting a large number of refugees”. Source: UN News