ERBIL () – More than 100,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen amid escalating fighting between government forces and Iran-backed Houthi fighters, while thousands more have fled the country, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The escalation followed a week-long Houthi offensive that resulted in the group capturing the remainder of Yemen’s Red Sea coast and strengthening its control over the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, a key maritime corridor linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said the fighting along Yemen’s western coast had displaced more than 100,000 people internally and forced thousands more to seek safety in Djibouti.
The agency warned that further escalation could trigger additional displacement inside Yemen and increase refugee movements across the Red Sea.
More than 2,400 people have crossed by sea from Yemen to Djibouti over the past four days alone, UNHCR said. Women, children and elderly people accounted for more than 60 percent of those arriving.
“People are arriving after a difficult sea journey, many exhausted, distressed and carrying what little they could take with them,” Sandrine Desamours, UNHCR’s representative in Djibouti, said.
“The response is already under pressure. We urgently need more support before more families arrive,” she added.
Inside Yemen, displaced families fled at short notice with few belongings, creating urgent needs for shelter, food, clean water, healthcare and protection services, according to the agency.
UNHCR also expressed concern over the increased risks facing more than 65,000 registered refugees and asylum-seekers in Yemen, most of them from Somalia and Ethiopia.
Humanitarian operations have been further complicated by insecurity, damaged roads, telecommunications disruptions and movement restrictions, the agency said.
The escalation has also raised concerns over the impact on humanitarian and commercial shipping. UNHCR warned that continued insecurity around the Bab al-Mandab Strait could disrupt maritime routes serving Yemen, Sudan and other humanitarian emergencies in the region and beyond.
