UN warns Yemen displacement could exceed 230,000 as Houthi offensive drives cross-border exodus

Escalation along the western coast

Following an offensive launched on 3 September 2026 by Houthi forces along the western coastline, heavy ground combat and Saudi airstrikes have spread across southern Yemen. The assault follows a broader resurgence of conflict that began in July 2026 amid regional military exchanges involving the United States, Israel, and Iran. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported on 22 September that over 130,000 people fled active frontlines in under three weeks. At least 154 people died in recent fighting between Houthi militia and Saudi-backed loyalist forces. The southern province of Taiz, near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, forms the center of the displacement, accounting for more than 60% of newly displaced residents. In the east, Marib province has taken in over 90,000 people arriving from western districts.

Repeat displacement among vulnerable families

The sudden movement of people adds to an existing population of 5.2 million internal refugees accumulated over more than a decade of war since 2014. Women and children constitute roughly 70% of the newly displaced population, with many fleeing their shelters for the fourth time. Humanitarian agencies report that the families arriving at overwhelmed settlements urgently require emergency shelter, clean drinking water, food supplies, and primary medical care.

“Around 70% of the newly displaced are women and children. And what these displaced people are telling us, especially the mothers, is that this is the fourth time they have had to flee with their children.”

Most of those on the move had spent years rebuilding basic routines in informal camps before the September offensive forced them to relocate again.

“The vast majority of the 130,000 people who are on the roads, looking for shelter and needing humanitarian aid today, are populations that had settled in more or less informal camps, were receiving humanitarian assistance, were trying somewhere to regain some semblance of normal life, and are once again shocked by the war and in need of fleeing.”

Sea crossings across the Bab el-Mandeb strait

Thousands of civilians have fled across the Red Sea toward the Horn of Africa, utilizing the 30-kilometer passage across the Bab el-Mandeb strait. More than 3,000 Yemeni refugees have arrived in Djibouti since early September, pushing daily arrival rates past the previous peak recorded in 2015. The UN refugee agency estimates that up to 10,000 refugees will land on Djiboutian shores over the next six months, with crossings anticipated to accelerate in October as maritime conditions become calmer.

“The intensification of fighting in Yemen could trigger further mass displacement, with an increasing number of people expected to flee both inside the country and to Djibouti, Somalia, and other nations.”

Funding deficits threaten relief operations

The refugee influx is placing immediate strain on Djibouti, a country of 1.2 million residents where 25% of the population lives on less than $3 a day. The country already shelters 36,000 refugees, mostly from Somalia and Ethiopia, while its water, health, and electrical grids operate under tight constraints. Across Yemen, where 22 million of the country's 35 million people depend on humanitarian aid, relief operations face severe budget deficits. UNHCR programs in Yemen are currently funded at 18% for 2026, with donors providing $34 million out of the $194 million required. In response to the latest influx, UNHCR requested $25 million in emergency funds to aid 231,000 people in Yemen and $13.5 million to maintain reception and registration centers in Djibouti, where programs are 15% funded.

Yemen 2026 Secured34

Yemen 2026 Required194

Yemen Urgent Appeal25

Djibouti Urgent Appeal13.5

Yemen 2026 Secured

34 $M

Yemen 2026 Required

194 $M

Yemen Urgent Appeal

25 $M

Djibouti Urgent Appeal

13.5 $M

Data from the article text