Yemen: Constrained response to protection needs of IDPs and returnees

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^{31 December 2008}

Clashes between government forces and Shi’ite followers of the late Sheikh Badr Eddin al-Houth led to displacement in north Yemen at regular intervals from 2004 with a peak in 2008. Fighting flared up in November 2005 following the breakdown of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s amnesty towards members of al-Houth’s militia, and in February 2006 several thousand people were displaced in armed clashes and air raids. An escalation in the fighting in 2007 led to further displacement in the northern governorate of Saada, until the July 2008 declaration of a ceasefire. However insecurity has since continued, with clashes reported, restrictions in access remaining, and unexploded ordnance and landmines still present.

In October 2008 severe flooding in eastern Yemen also displaced 10,000 people, and the government declared Hadramout and Al-Mahara governorates disaster areas and accommodated affected people in schools and public buildings.

OCHA estimated that 130,000 people were displaced or affected by the conflict in July 2008. The government reported in September that up to 90,000 had returned since the end of the conflict, but these return figures have not been verified and some reports suggest many people have returned to situations of displacement due to the high level of damage to their home areas.

According to the OCHA report, 60,000 people had found refuge in Saada town by July, of whom 15,000 to 20,000 were receiving limited assistance from national and international aid agencies in seven camps, and around 40,000 were sheltering with hosts. As many as 70,000 were also believed to be displaced in remote rural areas, where limits in access enforced by the government were preventing the delivery of assistance. The government progressively allowed aid agencies into some towns, though this access was still insufficient to reach many people affected.

There was great concern not only for IDPs but also for people forced to remain in the areas of hostilities. Civilians were prevented by both government and opposition checkpoints from travelling to Saada town to seek food and medical assistance. There is little information on particularly vulnerable displaced groups such as women, children or elderly people, but reports have noted a prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence and recruitment of children into tribal and Houthi forces.

Many people were still displaced at the end of the year. Though almost 8,000 families were said to have returned to their places of origin or resettled elsewhere in Saada by November 2008, over 3,000 families were recorded as displaced in areas accessible to UN and humanitarian agencies. Areas of Saada remained inaccessible due to insecurity or movement restrictions imposed by all parties to the conflict.

IDPs assessed in camps in Saada and elsewhere were enduring dire conditions and were particularly in need of food, medication, access to education, non-food items, improvements in access to water, sanitation and shelter. Many were unable to return to their homes due to fear of insecurity and reprisals, destruction of their homes, and lack of livelihoods and basic services there.

The government and NGOs have undertaken assessment missions to determine the damage to property and infrastructure in order to begin the process of reconstruction. In August, the Ministry of Local Administration reported that 6,000 houses had been damaged in Saada, as well as a large number of farms, schools, health facilities and mosques. The government has since established the Saada Compensation Committee for Reconstruction and Rehabilitation to help IDPs return and rebuild their lives.

The Yemeni Red Crescent Society and several other local and international organisations, including WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, ICRC, Islamic Relief, and MSF, have provided assistance to displaced and non-displaced people affected by the conflict. While assistance and protection will continue to be inadequate until the access to affected civilians is better, the international community has a substantial role to play in funding and delivering humanitarian and development assistance to help the Saada region overcome the extensive devastation of the conflict.

Humanitarian crisis facing IDPs in Yemen, September 9, 2009

With no sign of an end to fighting between the government and Al Houthi tribal groups in northern Yemen, humanitarian organisations have estimated that some 150,000 people are displaced in the Governorates of Sa’ada, Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah. This number includes many people displaced by previous rounds of fighting, who have been displaced for a second or third time. A truce agreed on 4 September proved short lived, and intense fighting has resumed.

Insecurity and limited access have continued to hamper humanitarian activities in Sa’ada. According to Islamic Relief, many internally displaced people (IDPs) have settled in camps in safer parts of the region or in neighbouring governorates, but they are facing shortages of food and water, and outbreaks of disease withour access to health care. The situation of 35,000 IDPs in Sa’ada town is of growing concern. There is a severe fuel shortage, and reportedly no electricity supply. Most roads into Saa’da are currently blocked and air strikes and fighting are making the delivery of aid impossible.

NGOs and the UN have continued to voice concerns over the protection of civilians, and particularly children, as the conflict continues; they launched a $23 million flash appeal and have called for immediate, safe and unimpeded access to assist IDPs. Yemeni human rights organisations have warned that displaced children face a humanitarian crisis, as well as recruitment by both sides and use as human shields. Several have also reported an increasing rate of arbitrary arrests.


New wave of conflict displaces thousands, August 21, 2009
 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appealed for an end to fighting between government and rebel forces in northern Yemen, and for combatants to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to trapped civilians. Clashes have escalated in number and intensity since internal conflict broke out again in Sa’ada and Amran Governorates in early August. The International Committee of the Red Cross / Red Crescent (ICRC) has reported that thousands of displaced families have reached Sa’ada city in need of shelter, water, food and medical care. Some of these families have reportedly sought refuge with host families, and others in camps or outdoors.
 
Insecurity and limited access has made it difficult to confirm IDP figures. The latest estimates put the total number of IDPs at between 125,000 and 150,000, including an estimated 100,000 still displaced from earlier rounds of conflict. Humanitarian agencies have struggled to access people in need due to the prevailing insecurity: on 14 August, 15 Yemeni Red Crescent Society (YRCS) workers, including doctors and nurses, were temporarily kidnapped from IDP camps in Sa’ada Governorate. 
 
While short-term measures have been taken to respond to current needs, the World Food Programme (WFP) and other agencies continue to lack funding. WFP announced that in July it was forced to halve food rations provided to IDPs as funds began running out.


New displacement feared as conflict returns to Sa’ada, August 11, 2009

New conflict broke out in Sa’ada on 11 August as the Yemeni army attacked rebels in many districts of the war-torn northern province. The official news agency Saba said a state of emergency had been declared there. The offensive marked an escalation in the long-running conflict between the Yemeni government and rebel supporters of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Al Jazeera has reported a rise in the number of people displaced, citing UN agencies the news agency notes that the number of IDPs has reached 130,000 in the last two weeks. In July, the World Food Programme reported to IDMC that 5,000 newly displaced people had been registered, and that UN agencies were estimating that some 100,000 people remained displaced from previous conflicts.

Latest brief update of IDP situation in Yemen, January 8, 2010

Following intermittent clashes between Al Houthi groups and the Yemeni government in July 2009, the situation in Sa’ada governorate escalated into open conflict on 12 August, in the sixth round of hostilities since 2004. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from Sa’ada and Amran governorates since the start of the ‘Sixth War’, adding to those displaced by previous rounds of fighting. For many, it is their second or third displacement over the last few years.

Until July 2009, United Nations Country Team (UNCT) had estimated 100,000 persons to be still displaced or affected from the pervious round of fighting. As of December 2009, the number is estimated to have reached 175,000 while up to 800,000 people are indirectly affected by the conflict, including communities hosting IDPs and residents who have lost access to basic services. In addition to concerns over the situation of IDPs, civilians unable to flee the fighting in northern Yemen and along the Yemen-Saudi border continue to face severe threats to their security and over all protection.

The number of IDPs is increasing with no sign of the conflict abating. The governorates of Sa’ada, Amran, Hajjah and Al Jawf have been particularly affected. Limited and sporadic humanitarian access has severely hampered needs assessments and prevented much humanitarian activity, especially in governorates of Sa’ada, Al Jawf, and areas of Amran governorate. The UNCT has identified the most urgent needs of IDPs and their host communities as being protection, food, water and sanitation, shelter, essential domestic items and access to health care.

The humanitarian community has repeatedly called for wider humanitarian access and that all necessary measures be taken by the parties to the conflict – Al Houthi groups, Yemeni and Saudi Arabia governments – to spare civilian lives. Human rights organisations have reported numerous allegations of indiscriminate targeting of civilian populations, and other violations, including forced child recruitment, and have called upon all parties to the conflict to adhere to their obligations and duties under humanitarian and relevant human rights law.