UN says at least 150,000 have fled their homes in Yemen amid fighting

By Rédaction Africanews with AP

The United Nations says at least 150,000 people have fled their homes in Yemen due to renewed fighting that has killed hundreds.

This follows the rapid advance by the Iran-backed Houthi fighters’ down the country’s western coast to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in recent weeks.

The rebel group has been involved in clashes with Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.

“We came under attack by the Houthis at around 6pm., and we left our home with nothing but the clothes we were wearing,” said Abu Walid who did not give his real name out of fear for his family’s safety.

“The children and their mother had no idea what was happening. I told them, ‘We have to flee.’,” he said.

Abu Walid added that the Houthi militias had taken control of the city of Hays, and the “shelling and bombardment were fallen”.

“It got to the point where a mortar shell landed right next to the door of our house,” he said.

A woman who was also displaced from Hays said she and her children fled when a mortar shell was fired at them.

”I don’t know where we are going or where to turn. We are now displaced and have no identity cards, no passports, nothing,” she said.

“Our children are now out of school. We want help from humanitarian organizations. We need homes, schools, and hospitals, she added.

Displaced people with their children could be seen living in tents with some saying that they don’t have anything apart from their clothes, while they line up to register and receive aid.

The UN population fund says it rapid response mechanism is providing “everyday household items”, as well as helping women, families and children to get through their first five days of displacement.”

The UNFPA’s representative in Yemen, Francesco Gualtieri, said they were also concerned about people currently living in the areas affected by very low security.

“They are hard to reach, access has become very difficult for the authorities, for service providers, for the humanitarian organisations,” he said.

Before the recent escalation, more than 5.2 million people were already internally displaced inside Yemen, which has seen more than a decade of conflict and economic collapse.