Attachments
KEY FIGURES
20.7 million people in need
2,014,026 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
89 per cent of IDPs displaced for more than a year
956,076 IDP returnees 1,015,375 recipients of CRIs since March 2015
280,539 refugees and asylum seekers
Funding
USD 114.6 M requested in 2017
Operational Update
UNHCR is bracing for further displacement and a spike in humanitarian needs as hostilities intensify in frontline areas on Yemen’s west coast. This follows the recent fighting in the capital,
Sana’a, and neighbouring northern governorates. Over the past number of days, UNHCR has received reports of new displacement from Hudaydah and Taizz Governorates. UNHCR and partners are still assessing the situation, but initial reports are that more than 1,400 people have fled from Taizz and Hudaydah to locations in Southern Taizz and Lahj. With numbers expected to rise further, UNHCR is working with partners to support and help those fleeing, with emergency relief items for 2,000 families in Hudaydah, and a further 2,000 aid kits are on their way along with 2,000 emergency shelter kits.
Meanwhile, following recent clashes, the situation in Sana’a has returned to relative calm, with UN humanitarian flights resuming a reduced service.
UNHCR offices in Sana'a reopened as of this week with a core team of international staff, and is working with partners to resume humanitarian operations that were put on hold due to insecurity in early December. As a matter of urgency, UNHCR is restoring services where possible and resuming assistance for the most vulnerable IDP and refugee families, particularly a winter cash assistance programme aimed at 17,000 families.
On 17 December, humanitarian organizations in Yemen issued a statement emphasizing neutrality and condemning any allegations of corruption and bias in the provision of relief assistance by parties to the conflict. UNHCR continues to work to serve the growing needs of those in Yemen and advocates for a political solution to put an end to the suffering.
In Aden on 10 December, following repeated delays caused by difficulties in receiving clearance, the fourth Assisted Spontaneous Return (ASR) departure took place. A total of 108 returnees arrived safely in Berbera port in Somalia on 11 December, supported with return cash grants to assist their reintegration. On 18 December, a fifth movement took place. So far, a total of 676 individuals have returned to Somalia through the UNHCR-led programme in coordination with IOM.