Yemen’s renewed fighting displaces over 112,000 and strains aid across the region

The latest surge of fighting between Saudi‑backed Yemeni government forces and Iran‑backed Houthi militia has forced more than 112,000 people from their homes in just two weeks. Displacements have been reported in Aden, Hudaydah, Abyan and Ta’iz, adding to a cumulative total of nearly 4.8 million Yemenis uprooted by years of conflict, economic collapse and environmental disaster. Even before the fresh escalation, half of Yemen’s 41 million population required assistance, and one in two residents of government‑controlled areas faced acute hunger. Health services are severely constrained, with only 60 of over 5,000 facilities fully operational.

Humanitarian operations are further hampered by the detention of aid workers. Seventy‑three UN staff members remain arbitrarily held by Houthi de‑facto authorities, some since 2021, while five former UN personnel and dozens of employees from NGOs, civil‑society groups and diplomatic missions are also detained. These arrests have made the delivery of assistance in Houthi‑controlled areas virtually untenable, limiting access to food, shelter, water and health services for the displaced. The loss of personnel also strains the limited resources of agencies already warning that their stocks will be depleted soon.

The violence has also pushed thousands across the Bab el‑Mandeb Strait into Djibouti. More than 3,000 people have arrived by boat in the coastal towns of Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule and Godoria, often with only the clothes on their backs and sometimes without family members. Host communities worry that the influx could overwhelm local capacities for shelter, water and protection. A shortage of fuel inside Yemen prevents many men from returning to retrieve relatives, while Djibouti’s coast guard has begun supplying fuel and towing stranded vessels to help keep the crossing safe.