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Yemen

IOM Yemen Ma'rib Response Update (December 2022)

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SITUATION OVERVIEW

While an ‘official truce’ still holds in Yemen, intermittent fighting was reported along frontlines in Ma’rib in December.
Between 28-29 December, clashes were reported on the governorate’s southern frontlines, resulting in military casualties. Even though these incidents did not pose significant threats to humanitarian programming in Ma’rib City or Ma’rib Al Wadi districts, IOM operations were impacted by an ambush on 9 December when IOM’s protection teams were returning from Seiyun airport after finalizing a voluntary humanitarian return (VHR) flight. IOM’s military-escorted convoy narrowly evaded a small arms fire by an unidentified group in Al Rawak area in Ma’rib, but causalities were reported of the military escorts who engaged the unidentified group. VHR movements in the area have been suspended in Ma’rib and IOM has conducted security assessments on the incident and situation in Ma’rib.

In December, IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reported the new displacement of 251 households (HHs) or around 1,500 individuals, mainly to Ma’rib City and Ma’rib Al Wadi. The main governorates where the displaced households came from were from within Ma’rib, Al Hodeidah, Ibb, Ta’iz, Sana’a, Shabwah, and more. Around 52 per cent of displaced households reported economic reasons for their displacement and 48 per cent reported conflict reasons. The highest needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) were food assistance (32%), cash assistance (22%), non-food item (NFI) assistance (19%), shelter support (16%), and other basic needs. In Ma’rib, only 94 sites out of the 195 IDP-hosting sites are supported by site management partners and all 42 sites in Al Jawf are not supported.

As winter set into Ma’rib, cold weather and freezing rain forced many IDPs to move host community settings as sites were subjected to great damage by floods and storms in previous months. Most of the IDPs are in dire need of NFI kits or shelter maintenance, particularly for families living in protracted displacement. Humanitarian partners across Ma’rib have been overwhelmed by the number of requests for ‘winterization kits’, which could include blankets, warm clothes, mattresses and more. Many IDPs are only prepared for the harsh desert heat in the summer, rather than the winters, which have worsened over recent years.

Newly Displaced HHs in Ma'rib 251 HHs 100 200 300 400 500 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Housing, Land, and Property (HLP) tensions remain between landowners and displaced households who have moved onto private lands. Some landlords have restricted IDPs from building a suitable kitchen which would prevent fire incidents or from constructing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities. In December, three IOM-managed sites in Ma’rib have been threatened with eviction from landowners including Al Rumaylah Al Qaoz (which hosts 50 HHs), Jaw Al Naseem Al Gharbi (80 HHs) and Al Jufainah sector 1/ block 9 (200 HHs). IOM, the CCCM Cluster and local authorities are identifying new land and conducting an ongoing land suitability assessment.

Additionally, IOM has witnessed an increase in migrant arrivals into Ma’rib from Shabwah governorate in December. IOM’s migrant response teams reported 944 newly arrivals, particularly into five locations: Bin Muaili, Ma’rib City, Mafraq Alsad, Al Hosoon, and Al Hadbah. Newly arrival migrants in Ma’rib needed food and shelter assistance due to lack of access to appropriate shelter assistance within the humanitarian response. IOM is trying to provide the essential services to migrants through individual case management to reduce their vulnerability and address its negative impact on their physical and mental wellbeing. Nonetheless, the migration route through Ma’rib remains extremely perilous. In December, eight migrants were injured, and two died in landmine blast near the Safer area. Migrants continued reporting problems while passing through checkpoints and had their belongings taken from them by force travelling between Shabwah and Ma’rib.

From Ma’rib, migrants continued to travel across frontlines at the hands of smugglers to the border between Yemen and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Along their journey, migrants have reported daily risks including human trafficking, forced recruitment, unpaid labor, forced movements and deportation, detention, and physical and psychological abuse, including torture and gender-based violence.