Displacement on the rise in Yemen as fighting continues

As hostilities worsen in Yemen, more people have been fleeing their homes, further intensifying the humanitarian crisis within the region, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), according to a press release. Fighting is expanding across multiple front lines, triggering a rapidly growing displacement crisis and driving more than 130,000 people to flee their homes since the beginning of September. UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch shared the update with reporters in Geneva. The city of Taiz in south-western Yemen remains the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for more than 60 per cent of overall displacement. Displacement is also being reported from Al Jawf, Marib, and Hudaydah governorates.

The mass displacement follows the Iran-backed Houthi fighters’ rapid advance down Yemen’s western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in recent weeks. The advance has triggered clashes with Saudi-backed Yemeni Government forces. Before the recent escalation, more than 5.2 million people were already internally displaced inside Yemen. The country has seen more than a decade of conflict and economic collapse. Yemen has also been hosting some 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia.

According to UNHCR, the vast majority of those displaced are women and children, and many have already been forced to flee several times. At least 22 million people – over half of the country’s population – are estimated to require humanitarian assistance. Many families remain trapped within Taiz governorate itself, unable to reach safer locations. Blocked roads and a lack of transportation fuel are compounding the situation. The UNHCR spokesperson stressed that more Yemenis are now becoming refugees.

Civilians fleeing clashes across the Gulf of Aden continue to arrive in Djibouti, with more than 3,000 having arrived so far. Hundreds more have landed in neighboring Somaliland and Puntland. The number of new refugee arrivals in Djibouti has already surpassed the total number of Yemenis arriving in recent years. More than 10,000 arrivals are expected in Djibouti, as sea conditions are forecasted to improve by mid-October, which could enable further crossings.

“Many families remaining within the governorate itself [are] unable to move to safer locations due to fighting, blocked roads or lack of transportation fuel,” Mr. Baloch said.

UNHCR’s Djibouti operation is only 15 per cent funded. In Yemen in 2026, the agency has received only $34 million of the $194 million required even before the latest escalation. The funding gap continues to strain the response as displacement grows. Women and children remain the most affected among those forced to flee. UNHCR continues to call for urgent support as fighting expands across multiple front lines.