UNHCR Representative: 230,000 Yemenis at Risk of Displacement

Yemen Monitor / Aden / Exclusive:

The representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Yemen, Armin Yedgariyan, said that more than three thousand Yemenis have crossed into Djibouti since the conflict in the country renewed, warning of the expansion of internal and external displacement movement as military escalation continues on several fronts.

Yedgariyan explained, in an interview with “Al-Arabi TV,” that the latest wave of fighting has pushed thousands of Yemenis to leave the country by sea, while UNHCR estimates indicate that the numbers of those leaving are likely to rise in the coming period if the confrontations continue and expand in scope.

According to UNHCR, more than three thousand Yemenis have so far reached Djibouti across the Gulf of Aden, while hundreds of others have reached Somaliland and Puntland, amid UN preparations for the possibility of receiving more than ten thousand arrivals with the improvement of maritime navigation conditions and the continued state of instability in Yemen.

The sea migration movement comes in conjunction with a wide wave of displacement inside Yemen; more than 130,000 people have fled their homes since the beginning of September, with fighting expanding on several fronts and front lines shifting from one area to another.

The UNHCR representative warned that the continuation of displacement at the current pace could raise the number of newly displaced people to more than 230,000, noting that the movement of fighting lines pushes residents to leave from both sides of the contact lines in search of safer areas.

Taiz Governorate is the epicenter of the current displacement wave, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total recorded displacement cases, while population movements have also been reported from the governorates of Al-Jawf, Marib, and Al-Hudaidah, in an indication of the multi-front nature of the current escalation.

The UN official said that the conditions of the displaced are becoming increasingly difficult as new families arrive in already overcrowded displacement sites, amid growing needs for shelter, food, clean water, health care, and protection, coinciding with the declining capacity of local services and infrastructure to absorb the new numbers.

UNHCR data indicate that about 70 percent of the newly displaced are women and children, while some families reported that they are being displaced for the fourth time, after moving repeatedly from one area to another during the years of war.

The new displacement wave exacerbates a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where more than 5.2 million people were internally displaced before the latest escalation, while more than 22 million people need some form of humanitarian assistance, according to UN estimates.

At the same time, the humanitarian response faces an acute funding shortage; UNHCR said its operations in Yemen are only 18 percent funded during 2026, after receiving about 34 million dollars out of the 194 million required, while it urgently needs about 25 million dollars to respond to the needs resulting from the escalation and new displacement.

UNHCR warned that continued fighting, insecurity, restrictions on movement, and damage to roads and infrastructure, including Al-Mokha Port, are obstructing the delivery of humanitarian assistance, calling for securing safe and unimpeded access to affected populations in areas witnessing accelerating displacement waves