IOM Yemen Quarterly Update - Quarter 1: January to March 2021
Format
SITUATION OVERVIEW
The humanitarian situation in Yemen is deteriorating. According to the 2021 Yemen Humanitarian Needs Overview, 20.7 million people require some form of humanitarian and protection assistance, and more than 16.2 million of them face the threat of famine. Worryingly, 5 million people are estimated to be on the verge of famine in the next six months. Challenges faced by conflict-affected populations in Yemen are multi-faceted; typically, a combination of food insecurity, displacement, protection risks, economic decline, weather related problems and eroded public systems. The value of the Yemeni rial continues to fluctuate, especially in southern governorates, and remittance payments have yet to return to pre-COVID-19 levels. In the first quarter of the year, IOM estimates that 26,844 people were displaced across 13 governorates – similar to trends during this period in 2020, when 27,402 people were displaced. Civilian casualties resulting from conflict incidents in communities increased this quarter, and migrants continued to be under threat from not just the conflict, but also from increased detention, forced transfers and deteriorating living conditions. A fire at a migrant holding facility in Sana’a, which took the lives of more than 40 people , clearly illustrated the dangers for migrant across the country.