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The United Nations agency for migration, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on Wednesday expressed concern over the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen’s Marib governorate, where the armed conflict has a devastating impact on internally displaced people, migrants and the communities that shelter them.
According to the IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix, the number of people forced to evacuate their homes in Marib has risen to more than 45,000 since September. Christa Rottensteiner, IOM Head of Mission in Yemen, said: “IOM is extremely concerned that hundreds of thousands of people will be forced to relocate again if violence reaches the city, as well as by the increase in the number of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. “
In another report, Human Rights Watch said indiscriminate artillery and ballistic missile fire by the Houthi armed group into populated areas of Marib governorate triggered the new wave of civilian displacement. The governorate, rich in natural resources, is one of the last strongholds of the Yemeni government, and the advance of Houthi forces there has intensified in recent months. In October 2021, the armed conflict killed and injured more than 100 civilians, including children.
IMO has said that although it has helped more than 200,000 people in Marib since the start of 2021, recent influxes of internally displaced people are straining already overcrowded sites. Rottensteiner added that “communities are repeatedly displaced and arrive at our sites urgently in need of the most basic items.” Additionally, IOM said that although it requested $ 170 million in 2021 to cover the growing needs of displaced, conflict-affected and migrant Yemeni communities, only about half of that amount has been received.
IOM called on all parties to end the ongoing conflict and called for immediate funds to support those affected.
