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Yemen + 1 more

Yemen UNHCR Flash Update, 4 - 17 August 2017

Attachments

KEY FIGURES

20.7 million people in need [Source: OCHA 31 April 2017]

1,980,510 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

81 percentage of IDPs displaced for more than a year

946,044 IDP returnees

865,121 recipients of NFIs since March 2015

280,421 refugees and asylum seekers

Funding

USD 114.6 M requested in 2017

Operational Update

UNHCR is saddened by the two tragic incidents off the coast of Yemen’s Shabwah Governorate, in which scores of refugees and migrants were feared to have drowned. UNHCR has warned repeatedly of the risks involved in dangerous boat crossings to Yemen, as prolonged conflict and insecurity have created the conditions for the proliferation of smuggling and trafficking by criminal networks targeting and exploiting people who are fleeing persecution or poverty. More than 30,000 people have made their way to Yemen through the Gulf of Aden or across the Red Sea in the first half of 2017 alone.

The UNHCR-led Protection Cluster released an update in August which emphasizes the impact of the conflict on civilians, notably through three major incidents resulting in civilian casualties. The update highlights that 104,658 internally displaced persons (IDP) were newly displaced in 2017 as a result of ongoing conflict, and that through the first half of 2017, the average number of reported airstrikes per month is almost three times higher compared to 2016, while the pace of reported armed clashes in 2017 is also 56% higher per month in 2017. Civilians in Yemen continue to bear the brunt of the crisis as conflict prolongs and escalates, further compounded by cholera and widespread food insecurity, all of which has only served to increase the protection needs of an already vulnerable population.