Yemen displacement surges past 46,000 as clashes intensify

More than 46,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week, with the number rising rapidly, the IOM said. Families are fleeing again as clashes spread, humanitarian access becomes harder and host communities come under growing strain

Geneva: At least 46,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week, and the number is alarmingly rising by the hour, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.

“Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left,” IOM Director General Amy Pope said in a press release. “As fighting spreads, reaching people with lifesaving assistance is becoming harder. We urgently need safe, unimpeded access.”

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She called on all parties to the conflict to guarantee safe humanitarian access and protect civilians, aid workers and assets on the ground, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The figure covers the West Coast and Taiz governorates and continues to climb. Overnight, large numbers of people were reportedly seen leaving Mokha city with their belongings.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team is working to establish updated figures to inform the humanitarian system and its lifesaving response, though communication with affected areas remains highly challenging due to widespread telecommunications disruptions.

New arrivals are being reported in Lahj and Aden governorates, while reports also indicate that people are moving north towards Ibb. Entire villages are reported to have emptied in Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi and Al Ma’afer as clashes moved closer to populated areas.

The Mokha-Taiz road, a key supply route, has reportedly been cut, and host communities in the region are under growing strain.

Yemen’s conflict began in late 2014 when the Houthis seized Sanaa and much of northern Yemen, prompting the Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 in support of the internationally recognised government.

The latest advances mark a major battlefield shift along Yemen’s western coast amid one of the sharpest escalations since a UN-brokered truce in 2022 largely halted major hostilities.