UN says 112,000 displaced in Yemen as nearly 3,000 flee to Djibouti
The UN says renewed fighting on Yemen’s west coast has displaced at least 112,000 people in two weeks and driven nearly 3,000 others to Djibouti by sea.
Sana’a, Yemen. At least 112,000 people have been displaced within Yemen over the past two weeks as fighting continues along the country’s west coast, while nearly 3,000 people have fled by sea to Djibouti, United Nations agencies said on Friday.
Escalating fighting
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have intensified attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure while advancing along the Red Sea coast towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a key shipping route.
Saudi and Yemeni air forces have bombarded Houthi targets in response to the offensive.
Refugee arrivals in Djibouti
Nearly 3,000 people crossed the Gulf of Aden to Djibouti in less than a week as escalating violence forced more families to flee, Sandrine Desamours, UNHCR’s representative in Djibouti, told reporters in Geneva by video link.
Djibouti’s government is preparing for the arrival of up to 10,000 refugees, which Desamours said would place acute pressure on the country’s healthcare and education services.
The International Organisation for Migration said people were fleeing on overcrowded boats and arriving with very limited food and water. Most are Yemeni families seeking refuge in Djibouti, although the agency has also begun to see a small number of migrants, mainly from Ethiopia, travelling in the same direction.
Regional impact
Authorities in Somaliland and Puntland have also reported increased arrivals from Yemen, including Yemeni refugees and Somali refugee returnees, although numbers remain in the hundreds, UNHCR said.
UN agencies described the latest fighting as a crisis on top of multiple crises, with Yemen’s health services and economy shattered by a long civil war between forces of the internationally recognised, Saudi-backed administration and the Houthis.
The Houthi advance along Yemen’s Red Sea coast is tightening the group’s control of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic chokepoint for global oil and commodities shipping, more than six months after US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
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