More than 250,000 displaced in Yemen since August as fighting escalates: UNHCR

More than 250,000 people have been displaced in Yemen between Aug. 1 and Oct. 17 as hostilities intensified across the country, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday.

The figure rose from nearly 213,000 previously reported, with Taiz remaining at the center of the displacement crisis, accounting for 76% of departures and hosting 52% of those newly displaced.

Lahj in southwestern Yemen hosts 23% of the newly displaced population, followed by Aden in the south with 13%, according to UNHCR.

“Shelling intensified in Taiz, including in residential areas and around health facilities, while insecurity and restrictions along key routes continue to constrain humanitarian access and movement,” the agency said in a statement.

“In Aden, strikes were reported, including near key civilian infrastructure,” it added.

By Oct. 17, UNHCR and its partners had assessed 12,283 displaced households across Abyan, Aden, Marib, Lahj and Taiz, including around 2,050 families without shelter.

It said shelter partners have reached 3,166 households, but around 33,700 families still require shelter assistance amid severe underfunding of the wider humanitarian response.

UNHCR said schools in Kharaz refugee camp in Lahj, which hosts 9,490 refugees, closed again on Oct. 11 as the security situation deteriorated, while access restrictions continued to affect humanitarian operations and movement to and from the camp.

Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized the capital Sanaa and several other provinces in September 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.

The Houthis control much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.