More than 100,000 people have been displaced within the country and thousands are crossing Bab al-Mandab toward Djibouti, while relief operations face funding shortages and growing difficulties in reaching those affected.
The military escalation led by the Iran-backed Houthi group along Yemen’s western coast has triggered a massive wave of displacement whose repercussions have extended beyond the country’s borders. The group has expanded its control across districts in southern Hodeidah and western Taiz and moved closer to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, while fleeing families face severe shortages of shelter, food, water, and healthcare.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the escalation of hostilities along the western coast had displaced more than 100,000 people within Yemen and forced thousands of others to cross the Bab al-Mandab Strait in search of safety in Djibouti.
The displacement wave has affected the governorates of Hodeidah, Taiz, Lahj, Aden, Abyan, Marib, Al-Dhalea, and Shabwa. Many families fled their homes in haste, carrying only a few belongings, and found themselves in overcrowded sites or host communities already struggling with limited resources and services.
The rising figures illustrate how rapidly the disaster is expanding. On September 11, the International Organization for Migration announced that at least 46,000 people had been displaced since the fighting intensified at the beginning of the month, before the number rose to 82,164 people displaced from western coastal areas.
Just four days later, UNHCR said the total had surpassed 100,000 displaced people, reflecting the rapid flight of families as Houthi control and the accompanying military operations expanded.
Taiz Governorate bore the largest share of the new displacement wave. The IOM recorded the displacement of around 8,300 families, comprising nearly 50,000 people, from districts including Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi, Al-Ma’afer, Mawza, and Al-Wazi’iyah. Another 2,819 families, or around 17,000 people, were displaced in Lahj, while 1,374 families comprising nearly 8,100 people were displaced in Hodeidah, in addition to more than 1,000 displaced people in Aden.
Houthi Expansion Reshapes the Displacement Map
The latest displacement wave is linked to the battlefield changes witnessed in western Yemen after the Houthis expanded their control across the districts of Hays and Al-Khawkhah in southern Hodeidah, and Al-Wazi’iyah, Mawza, Mocha, Dhubab, and parts of Maqbanah in western Taiz, in addition to their advance toward islands and strategic areas in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab.
This expansion means that the fighting is no longer confined to front lines far from population centers. It has extended into coastal cities, major roads, and other areas, including rural communities that once served as vital commercial and humanitarian corridors but were transformed within days into displacement routes and hard-to-reach areas.
Thousands of civilians fled in panic as the confrontations widened and the Houthis advanced toward the Red Sea coast. Some reached temporary camps lacking basic necessities, while families were separated and some members were forced to leave relatives behind because of shelling, road closures, and restrictions on movement.
Testimonies from displaced people indicate that many families had insufficient time to gather money, food, or clothing, and that their priority was to get their children away from shelling, sniper fire, and security pursuits. Many arrived at displacement sites without tents, bedding, or safe water sources, amid rising temperatures and growing risks of disease and malnutrition.
This escalation is an extension of the cycle of war that began when the Houthis seized Sana’a and several governorates in September 2014. This time, however, it carries a more dangerous geographical and humanitarian dimension, as the center of the fighting has shifted to the western coast and the group has reached areas near one of the world’s most important maritime passages.
Fleeing by Sea
Displacement is no longer confined to Yemen. More than 2,400 people crossed the sea to Djibouti over four days, arriving primarily in Obock, Khor Angar, Moulhoule, and Godoria. UNHCR said women, children, and elderly people accounted for more than 60 percent of the arrivals.
Families are making a perilous sea journey across Bab al-Mandab, often aboard poorly equipped boats, after exhausting their options for displacement by land or fearing that the fighting will continue to expand. Many of those fleeing arrive in Djibouti exhausted and distressed, carrying only a few possessions they managed to take with them.
Casualties and Attacks on Escape Routes
The humanitarian repercussions are not limited to displacement. The Ministry of Human Rights in Yemen’s internationally recognized government said Houthi attacks involving ballistic missiles, drones, and various types of weapons since September 3 had killed 150 civilians and wounded more than 200 others in Taiz, Hodeidah, and Marib.
The ministry added that the shelling targeted populated areas, displacement camps, and convoys of civilians fleeing conflict zones, destroying property and depriving families of their homes, sources of income, and basic necessities.
These findings hold the Houthi group responsible for igniting the new wave of displacement after it launched attacks and expanded its military operations and territorial control in southern Hodeidah and western Taiz, using heavy weapons in populated areas before extending its movements to Mocha, Dhubab, and areas and islands near Bab al-Mandab.
Although the continuing confrontations and airstrikes have increased the risks facing civilians, the Houthi offensive and its geographical expansion were the direct factors that triggered the current displacement wave and forced tens of thousands of people to leave their homes within a short period.
Aid Operations Face Closed Roads and Funding Shortages
UNHCR said humanitarian access remains a major challenge because of insecurity, damaged roads, disrupted communications, and restrictions on movement, particularly along the western coast and between Taiz, Al-Turbah, and Aden. Damage to the Port of Mocha has also complicated the movement of relief teams, supplies, and logistical operations.
The most urgent needs include shelter, food, clean water, healthcare, and protection, while displacement sites and host communities are no longer able to accommodate additional families without urgent external assistance.
UNHCR estimated that it needs $14 million to meet the immediate needs of displaced families inside Yemen, along with additional funding to support reception operations, protection, and basic services in Djibouti.
Repercussions Beyond Yemen
The expansion of Houthi control along the western coast carries implications extending beyond Yemen’s internal crisis because of the proximity of the areas entered by the group to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the maritime passage linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, through which commercial cargo and humanitarian supplies serving Yemen, Sudan, and other countries transit.
UNHCR warned that continued insecurity could affect humanitarian and commercial shipping, increase transportation costs, and delay the delivery of relief supplies. If conditions worsen, ships may be forced to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, adding between 25 and 30 days to maritime journeys.
Bab al-Mandab has become even more important amid disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. This means that the expansion of an Iran-backed group along the Yemeni shore of the strait is a development whose repercussions are not confined to Yemen but also affect Red Sea security, supply chains, energy, and relief operations across the region.
While international attention is focused on the risks threatening shipping and energy markets, Yemeni civilians are paying the direct price of this shift: people killed and wounded, families torn apart, children forced from their homes and schools, and thousands risking the sea crossing to escape a war that, after years of fragile de-escalation, has taken them back to square one.
The current displacement wave reveals that the Houthi expansion in western Yemen represents not only a military shift but also the foundation of a prolonged humanitarian crisis that could rapidly worsen unless escape routes, camps, and civilian facilities are protected, humanitarian aid is allowed to reach those in need without restrictions, and the international community takes action to halt the attacks and hold those responsible for targeting civilians accountable.
