Local Editor
According to UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler, hostilities in the Red Sea governorate of Taiz, south of Al Hodeida, have displaced almost 50,000 people since the start of 2017. This is in addition to the three million who have been uprooted since the beginning of the conflict in Yemen, of whom two million remain displaced and one million have provisionally returned home to precarious conditions.
Taiz’s embattled district of Mokha is one of the worst affected areas in the governorate where humanitarian access has been challenging due to ongoing clashes.
Taiz has been a flashpoint in the conflict, generating 27 per cent of internally displaced people in Yemen, and also hosting another 303,672 displaced people. Many who have attempted to flee hostilities in Taiz have been displaced elsewhere across the governorate.
Speaking during a press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva Spindler said that in Mokha, UNHCR teams observed worsening conditions for both those displaced by conflict and the local communities hosting them. Many people are living out in the open in harsh conditions and without adequate shelter, protection and material assistance.
Spindler added that in Hodeida, UNHCR field teams also observed a huge spike in humanitarian needs. Displaced people are now living on the streets with some taking shelter on pavements, and others most vulnerable including female and child-headed households turning to negative coping strategies to enable their survival such as through begging and child labour, which is now rampant across the governorate.
UNHCR has warned late last month an intensification of conflict in Al Hodeida would lead to large-scale displacement of up to an additional half a million people, further increasing needs and vulnerabilities in an high-need area which is already host to a sizeable displaced and conflict affected population and suffering from critical levels of food insecurity.
Spindler explained that with Hodeida hosting more than 109,000 displaced individuals, many are reporting anxiety about reports of a possible new Saudi-led offensive in the governorate, unsure of how and where they would flee.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
