Yemen: IDPs facing international neglect

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^{31 December 2009}

As of December 2009, at least 175,000 people were forcibly displaced by conflicts within Yemen. In recent years the government has faced intermittent internal armed conflict in Sa’ada Governorate in northern Yemen, a growing southern separatist movement, and a resurgence of terrorist groups including al-Qaida. In Sa’ada, a group referred to as “al-Houthi” after the family name of the leader of the rebellion, had since early 2004 engaged in an armed conflict with the Yemeni army and government-backed tribes. The conflict began with isolated clashes in Sa’ada but by late 2009 the conflict also affected the governorates of Al Jawf, Hajjah, and Amran, and bordering areas of Saudi Arabia. There had been six rounds of conflict since 2004, with the latest beginning in August 2009. The intensity and geographical spread of the conflict increased in each round and all parties to the conflict, including the Saudi army, had reportedly perpetrated violations of humanitarian and human rights law.

In addition to the people reportedly displaced in northern Yemen, more than 800,000 people in Sa’ada and neighbouring governorates were affected by the conflict. In Saudi Arabia, inhabitants of villages bordering Yemen were forcibly displaced to provisional camps but no clear estimate was available of their number or situation. Limited and sporadic access severely hampered needs assessments and prevented much humanitarian activity, especially in the governorates of Sa’ada, Al Jawf, and Amran. Difficulties in identifying appropriate sites to establish organised IDP sites led to the establishment of informal camps. However, as of late 2009, the camps only provided shelter for around one in eight IDPs, with most of the rest seeking shelter with hosts in governorates as far south as Sana’a.

At the height of the preceding round of fighting in 2008, 130,000 people had reportedly been internally displaced in a conflict involving indiscriminate bombardment of civilian areas, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and alleged child recruitment by all parties. In July 2009, the UN estimated that 100,000 people were still displaced or affected, but it lacked the access to verify this number. Damage to homes, continuing insecurity, the fear of reprisals and the lack of livelihood opportunities and basic services in return areas all added to IDPs’ vulnerability and barred their return. Exposure to violence had led to high rates of trauma and anxiety, particularly among women and children, and child labour was increasingly witnessed among vulnerable households in IDP camps and host communities. Intermittent violence in Sa’ada from late 2008 to mid-2009 led to further displacement, while tribal, government and Houthi checkpoints progressively reduced people’s freedom of movement.

With the escalation of the conflict in August 2009, IDPs and communities hosting them faced increasingly severe protection concerns, particularly the estimated 90,000 IDPs in Sa’ada governorate, where the fighting was most intense. Attacks on civilians including those fleeing the conflict were more frequently reported than in previous rounds of conflict, and many communities were trapped in areas where heavy fighting took place. Hundreds of people who sought refuge into neighbouring Saudi Arabia were subsequently refouled back to Yemen.

Needs assessments in accessible areas in late 2009 revealed IDPs living in open shelters, or in overcrowded housing, schools and clinics; they underlined the vulnerability of single mothers and girls, the rising rates of domestic violence, the lack of assistance reaching people with special needs, and also incidents of conflict between IDPs and host communities. The assessments also revealed that access to clean water, sanitation, and food and non-food supplies was inadequate and becoming more difficult.

The humanitarian response in Yemen was impeded by restrictions on the access of agencies, limited resources and inadequate funding. The government recognised the situation of displacement and established mechanisms to coordinate with the humanitarian community to address the situation of conflict-affected populations. The government also gradually conceded wider access to areas of displacement but this remained limited, as did its response to the situation of IDPs.

In December 2009, the UN launched its first consolidated appeal in response to the situation in northern Yemen, following the urgent appeal launched in August. The cluster approach was implemented, with UNHCR as protection cluster lead. Several international agencies, and national agencies such as the Yemeni Red Crescent Society, Al Amal and the Charitable Society for Social Welfare, were at the end of the year providing assistance to conflict-affected and displaced communities.

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.

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

In February 2010 a ceasefire put an end to hostilities; however intermittent violence has continued in affected governorates. As of July, approximately 342,000 were registered as internally displaced people (IDPs), and more than 800,000 people had been indirectly affected by the conflict, including communities hosting IDPs and residents who had lost access to basic services. (...)

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^{3 August 2010}





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.