Yemen displacement tops 200,000 amid funding shortages, says UN

More than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since fighting began, with displacement accelerating sharply in recent weeks amid dangerously low funding, the UN migration agency said Wednesday, Anadolu reports.

The figure makes up more than 33,700 households, according to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration.

Nearly all of the people tracked have been displaced since Sept. 1.

“People are running for their lives and finding nowhere safe to go,” the agency’s Director General Amy Pope said.

“They need a roof, food and safety today. Our teams are on the ground, but the funding is not. I am asking donors to act now, because every day of delay costs lives,” he said.

The scale of displacement has risen rapidly.

In mid-September, 76,000 displaced people were recorded. That figure exceeded 145,000 by the end of the month.

Displacement now spans 10 governorates, with the flashpoint province of Taiz the hardest hit, accounting for 57% of those displaced.

Taiz was followed by Lahej, Aden, Abyan, and Hudaydah.

​​​​​​​- Crisis spills across Yemen’s borders

The crisis is also spilling across Yemen’s borders, with more than 3,700 people fleeing by sea to Djibouti.

Many arrive exhausted aboard overcrowded boats with little food or water, while families often leave with almost nothing.

Many make the journey at night, carrying whatever they can, with most of those arriving being women and children.

“Every day our teams meet families who have lost everything,” Pope said. “We know what they need. We know how to deliver it. What we lack is the means to reach them all.”

The most urgent need is shelter, cited by 35% of displaced people. Food follows at 33%, while 22% identify cash assistance as their most urgent need. One in 10 say protection is their primary need.

Relief stocks are running low as humanitarian needs grow faster than available resources.

The UN agency called on the international community to provide immediate funding to enable humanitarian partners to save lives in Yemen.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led Arab coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.