Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

“Our resources are very, very, very limited and our stocks will be depleted very soon,” Abdusattor Esoev, mission chief in Yemen for the International Organization for Migration, told reporters on Friday. The displacement has occurred primarily over the last two weeks, with most of the affected people in the west coast and in the provinces of Taiz and Lahj.

The displacement began when the Houthis made a rapid advance, seizing control of the entire Red Sea coast of Yemen to tighten their grip on the vital shipping route, the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Esoev estimates 22 million Yemenis, or nearly half the population – are in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Refugee Numbers Rise

More than 65,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia, are also threatened; the crisis is growing “by the hour,” warned Francesco Galtieri, a representative for the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). He added that thousands of women who have lost all their possessions are on the run with their children.

Galtieri estimates that 2,000 pregnant women are among the displaced and around 200 are expected to give birth shortly; Around 3,000 Yemenis have fled Yemen by boat to Djibouti, the UN refugee agency said. The shortest route across the Bab al-Mandeb Strait is just over 25 kilometres.

Pressure on Djibouti

The UNHCR reports that more than 2,400 people made the voyage in the past week, mostly women, children and older people; the influx is adding pressure on Djibouti, a country with a population of about one million people. It already hosts around 36,000 refugees, most from Somalia and Ethiopia, said UNHCR representative Sandrine Desamours — “While the number may sound small,” it must be seen in proportion to the population, she added.

The strategically important Bab al-Mandeb links the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and has become an alternative shipping route as the United States’ war against Iran choked the Strait of Hormuz.