More Than 250,000 Yemenis Flee Houthi Escalation, Most from Taiz

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Tuesday that more than a quarter of a million Yemenis had been forced to flee their homes since the Houthis began escalating military operations in August. Most are from Taiz governorate, which has become a focal point of fighting with government forces.

According to UNHCR, 76 per cent of those fleeing the military escalation are from Taiz governorate alone, with most displaced within the governorate itself. Displaced families remain in urgent need of shelter, food and cash assistance amid a severe funding shortfall.

The developments come as humanitarian organisations report that the Houthi siege of Taiz has halved water production and driven up commodity prices by 50 per cent, alongside shortages of cooking gas and vehicle fuel.

Falling water production in the city has coincided with shortages of fuel and cooking gas and rising food prices. In the health sector, hospital medicine stocks have dwindled, while oxygen and fuel reserves are close to exhaustion. Supplies available in Aden and Al-Turbah cannot be transported into the city.

According to the humanitarian organisations, Taiz faces increasing isolation and immense pressure on essential services. Since early October, Houthi road closures have obstructed humanitarian and commercial supplies.

They said shelter assistance had reached fewer than one in ten families in need, while only around a quarter of those requiring water and sanitation services had received them.

The organisations also warned that continued displacement was worsening an already extremely serious humanitarian crisis. They noted that 84 per cent of displaced families whose information had been verified were in districts classified as Phase 4, or “Emergency”, under the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

Available data indicate that displacement has increased the risk of disease outbreaks, particularly cholera. Families are arriving at overcrowded displacement sites while the epidemic continues to spread. These sites are often located in districts with inadequate water and sanitation services.

As reports of cholera cases increase at displacement sites, partner organisations are expanding treatment centre capacity, strengthening disease surveillance systems and providing safe water to displaced people.

Aid organisations stressed the urgent need to ensure safe, sustained humanitarian access. They said humanitarian workers had been unable to travel between Taiz city and the southern districts since October 8.