Yemen - IOM Yemen’s over 300 local staff have continued their activities on the ground, extending humanitarian aid in the southern and northern regions of the country.
Following the evacuation of all UN/IOM international staff from Yemen, IOM has also reestablished a functional coordination hub in Amman, Jordan.
Additionally, IOM is awaiting landing clearance for its first evacuation flight out of Sana’a to evacuate approximately 170 Third Country Nationals (TCNs) to Khartoum, where evacuees will receive onward transportation assistance. Daily flights to Khartoum and Addis Ababa are being planned.
The situation in Yemen continues to deteriorate rapidly. Civilian populations have been affected by air strikes and other armed actions in 14 out of 21 governorates. Initial unverified estimates suggest that over 100,000 individuals have been internally displaced as a result of the conflict.
An increase in the number of people moving from Sa’ada and Sana’a to Amran Governorate has been reported. Widespread medicine, fuel, water and electricity shortages are reported. Food prices are also rising in major cities. Civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, is also being affected by the fighting.
As of 8th April, IOM has received requests to support the humanitarian evacuation of over 13,000 nationals from 38 governments. Nationals from Egypt, Sudan, Bangladesh, as well as Europeans represent the bulk of the requests received thus far.
IOM’s Humanitarian Evacuation Cell has been activated in Geneva (Switzerland) and Cairo (Egypt). Individuals in need of evacuation assistance can send their requests to the following email address: YemenEvacuationRequests@iom.int
Two evacuation routes are being established between Sana’a and Khartoum (Sudan) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) to assist nationals of those countries, as well as TCNs of other nationalities, who will subsequently receive onward transportation to their home countries. Discussions are ongoing to establish additional routes between Yemen and other hubs in the region.
The organization of such operations has so far proven highly complex, in particular securing the necessary clearances, including landing permits for charter flights into Sana’a. At the time of writing, the airports in Hodeidah and Aden have sustained significant damage and are not operational.
Significant numbers of people continue to cross the Gulf of Aden, with reports of new arrivals in Somalia, Djibouti and Ethiopia in recent days. In parallel, while a number of governments have taken steps to evacuate their nationals from Yemen, whether by sea or air, many have not been able to do so, and have instead called on IOM’s assistance to extract their nationals who remain stranded there.
IOM has assisted an estimated 5,000 people who have so far arrived in Djibouti, Ethiopia and Somalia. IOM is assisting with basic humanitarian support and onward transportation assistance for the most vulnerable cases.
In Djibouti, IOM has deployed staff to coordinate and monitor arrivals at all three entry points for TCNs and returnees (Djibouti Airport, Port of Djibouti and Port of Obock). Thus far, 4,260 people have arrived in Djibouti through boats and charter flights. They include various nationalities, primarily from Africa and the Middle East. IOM is providing accommodation, food, health assistance and onward transportation assistance to vulnerable stranded families.
So far, 28 migrants have received onward transportation from Djibouti to their places of origin in Ethiopia. As of 9th April, 270 people have arrived in Somalia through Berbera port in Somaliland; and 389 have arrived in Puntland through the Port of Bossaso. These are mostly Somali and Yemeni nationals.
On 1st April, IOM, UNHCR, UNOCHA and other agencies established the “Yemen Task Force for Somalia” in Nairobi. They met on 7th April and established an initial monthly planning figure of 2,000 arrivals (1,000 in Somaliland, 1,000 in Puntland). The contingency planning figure for six months was set at 100,000 at four ports of entry: Berbera, Bossaso, Mogadishu and Kismayo. This will likely be increased, as large numbers of migrants and refugees in Yemen could easily cross the Gulf of Aden.
Nearly 240,000 Somali refugees are currently estimated to be living in Yemen. IOM and UNHCR are currently in discussions to determine the most appropriate course of action in relation to this large, particularly vulnerable group.
For further information please contact Joel Millman at IOM HQ, Tel: + 41 79 103 87 20, Email: jmillman@iom.int. Or Bekim Ajdini at IOM Yemen, Tel: + 967 739 633 887, Email: bajdini@iom.int