At least 46,000 displaced by escalating Yemen fighting: UN

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warns that the figure is rising ‘by the hour’ as it calls for safe humanitarian access.

A Yemeni girl pushes a wheelbarrow with empty jerrycans before filling them with drinking water from a donated water pipe, in Sanaa, Yemen [File: Yahya Arhab/EPA]

More than 46,000 people have been driven from their homes in Yemen in the wake of the latest escalation in fighting between Houthi rebels and government forces, according to United Nations data.

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned that the figure is rising “by the hour” in a statement issued on Friday.

list 1 of 4 Houthis, Yemeni forces engaged in fierce battles: Why each front matters

list 2 of 4 Yemen’s Houthis seize strategic Red Sea city of Mocha

list 3 of 4 Houthis capture Yemeni town of Mocha: Why it’s important

list 4 of 4 UN envoy warns Security Council Yemen’s war has entered ‘dangerous phase’

The UN agency called on all parties to the conflict to guarantee safe humanitarian access and protect civilians, aid workers and humanitarian assets on the ground.

“Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left,” Amy Pope, head of the IOM, said in the statement.

The agency said many people had reportedly fled Mocha with their belongings overnight after the Iran-allied Houthi rebels captured the strategically important Red Sea port city from the internationally recognised government on Thursday .

Entire villages were said to have been abandoned in some areas of the war-torn country. The IOM urged the parties to the conflict to guarantee humanitarian access and ensure the safety of aid workers.

The statement came amid reports on Friday that the Houthis had captured a strategically located island in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait and now control Yemen’s entire Red Sea coast.

Separately on Friday, the UN also voiced concern over the Houthis seizing a key humanitarian compound and its assets in Mocha, warning that humanitarian personnel and facilities must be protected.

“The compound houses staff of UN agencies working to provide humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities in the area,” UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters.

All UN personnel working at the compound had left before the seizure and were “safe and accounted for”, Haq added.

Haq stressed that humanitarian personnel, premises and assets “must be respected and protected at all times”, while calling for safe and unimpeded humanitarian access so life-saving assistance can continue reaching people in need.

Farea Al-Muslimi, a Yemen researcher at the London-based Chatham House thinktank, told Al Jazeera that deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Yemen will build on what was already one of the world’s worst crises.

“Yemen was already going through one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world,” Al-Muslimi said.

“It got terribly worse after the Houthis cracked down on aid organisations in northern Yemen. But the war continued despite the fragile truce, and what that meant was the destruction of what remained of the economy, with millions of families left without income,” he said.

Al-Muslimi warned that the latest escalation “will create two new crises”, one being further internal displacement, noting that “we’ve already seen more than 10,000 families displaced in the last week alone”, and the other being rising prices for goods inside Yemen.

“Since this is [happening in] a maritime [trade] corridor, it will, for sure, drive further violence inside Yemen, but also from outside Yemen,” Al-Muslimi added.

“The Yemeni population will continue to suffer, first and foremost, more than anyone else, inside or outside the country.”

国际移民组织（IOM）警告称，这一数字“每小时”都在上升，并呼吁确保人道主义援助的安全准入。

在也门萨那，一名也门女孩推着一辆装满空水桶的手推车，然后用捐赠的水管往水桶里灌饮用水。[图片：Yahya Arhab/EPA]

根据联合国的数据，在也门胡塞武装与政府军之间最新一轮冲突升级后，已有超过 46,000 人被迫离开家园。

国际移民组织（IOM）在周五发表的一份声明中警告说，这一数字“每小时”都在上升。

胡塞武装与也门军队激战四场：为何每条战线都至关重要

也门胡塞武装占领红海战略城市摩卡（共4条记录，此为第2条）

胡塞武装占领也门城镇摩卡（共4条记录，此为第3条）：其重要性何在？

联合国特使警告安理会，也门战争已进入“危险阶段”（名单4/4）

联合国机构呼吁冲突各方保证人道主义援助安全通道，并保护当地平民、援助人员和人道主义资产。

“在这场冲突中，许多家庭被迫第二次或第三次逃离家园，几乎一无所有，”国际移民组织负责人艾米·波普在声明中说。

该机构称，据报道，在伊朗支持的胡塞武装于周四从国际公认的伊朗政府手中夺取了具有重要战略意义的红海港口城市摩卡后，许多人连夜带着财物逃离了摩卡。

据称，在这个饱受战火蹂躏的国家的一些地区，整个村庄都被遗弃了。国际移民组织敦促冲突各方保障人道主义援助准入，并确保援助人员的安全。

此前有报道称，胡塞武装于周五占领了曼德海峡一座具有战略意义的岛屿，目前控制了也门整个红海沿岸地区。

周五，联合国也对胡塞武装占领摩卡一处重要的人道主义营地及其资产表示关切，并警告说必须保护人道主义人员和设施。

联合国副发言人法尔汉·哈克告诉记者：“该建筑群居住着联合国各机构的工作人员，他们致力于向该地区的弱势群体提供人道主义援助。”

哈克补充说，所有在该营地工作的联合国人员在被查封前都已离开，并且“安全无恙，人人有份”。

哈克强调，人道主义人员、场所和资产“必须始终受到尊重和保护”，同时呼吁确保人道主义援助安全畅通无阻，以便继续向有需要的人提供拯救生命的援助。

伦敦智库查塔姆研究所的也门问题研究员法雷亚·穆斯利米告诉半岛电视台，也门人道主义状况的恶化将加剧这场已经是世界上最严重的危机之一。

“也门当时正经历着世界上最严重的人道主义危机之一，”穆斯利米说。

他说：“胡塞武装镇压也门北部的援助组织后，情况变得极其糟糕。尽管脆弱的停火协议得以维持，但战争仍在继续，这意味着残存的经济体系遭到破坏，数百万家庭失去了收入来源。”

穆斯利米警告说，最新局势升级“将造成两大危机”，一是进一步的国内流离失所，他指出“仅上周，我们就看到超过 10,000 个家庭流离失所”，二是也门境内商品价格上涨。

“由于此事发生在海上贸易走廊，肯定会加剧也门境内的暴力冲突，也会引发也门境外的暴力冲突，”穆斯利米补充道。

“也门人民将继续遭受苦难，而且这种苦难将首先波及到国内和国外的任何人。”