1,400 Yemenis flee to Djibouti within 24 hours

Yemeni refugees arrive in Obock, Djibouti, within 24 hours as Houthis tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

A man walks through a male dormitory at an International Organization for Migration transit centre for migrants in Obock, Djibouti [File: Luke Dray/Getty Images]

About 1,400 people have fled Yemen for Djibouti in a 24-hour period, Djibouti’s economy and finance minister says, as Houthi fighters tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb strait.

Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh wrote on X on Saturday: “1,400 refugees arrived in Djibouti from Yemen in just 24 hours.”

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In a separate post on Friday, the minister said that 500 refugees had arrived in the coastal city of Obock, including women and children, after they were rescued at sea when their boats ran out of fuel while crossing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.

Obock, a city only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across the water from the Yemeni coast, has for several years been a preferred arrival point for those seeking refuge from war-torn Yemen. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is also used in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa, who transit through Yemen on their way to Gulf countries.

Safiya Ibrahim, humanitarian response coordinator for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP that “vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days”.

The IOM warned on Friday that at least 46,000 people had been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week.

“Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left,” Amy Pope, the IOM director general, said in a statement. “As fighting spreads, reaching people with lifesaving assistance is becoming harder. We urgently need safe, unimpeded access.”

Djibouti hosts tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. United Nations Refugee Agency figures from March 2026 show a registered population of more than 36,000, with the majority from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen.

The Houthis seized the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday and have since overrun the coastline and islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The rapid offensive has forced thousands of families to flee, with entire villages reportedly emptied in districts such as Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi and al-Maafer.

随着胡塞武装加强对曼德海峡的控制，也门难民在 24 小时内抵达吉布提的奥博克。

一名男子走过位于吉布提奥博克的国际移民组织移民中转中心的男生宿舍。[图片：Luke Dray/Getty Images]

吉布提经济和财政部长表示，在24小时内，约有1400人从也门逃往吉布提，因为胡塞武装正在加强对曼德海峡的控制。

伊利亚斯·穆萨·达瓦莱赫周六在 X 上写道：“短短 24 小时内，就有 1400 名难民从也门抵达吉布提。”

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这位部长在周五的另一篇帖子中表示，500名难民抵达了沿海城市奥博克，其中包括妇女和儿童。此前，他们的船只在穿越曼德海峡时燃料耗尽，他们在海上获救。

奥博克市距离也门海岸仅约20公里（12英里），隔水相望，多年来一直是逃离战火纷飞的也门难民的首选入境点。来自非洲之角的移民也利用曼德海峡反向航行，途经也门前往海湾国家。

国际移民组织（IOM）人道主义应对协调员萨菲亚·易卜拉欣告诉法新社：“妇女和儿童等弱势群体已经抵达奥博克海岸，预计未来几天还会有更多人抵达。”

国际移民组织周五警告称，自上周也门战事升级以来，至少有 46,000 人流离失所。

国际移民组织总干事艾米·波普在一份声明中表示：“在这场冲突中，许多家庭被迫第二次甚至第三次逃离家园，几乎一无所有。随着战火蔓延，向民众提供救生援助变得越来越困难。我们迫切需要安全畅通的援助通道。”

吉布提收容了数万名难民和寻求庇护者。联合国难民署2026年3月的数据显示，该国登记在册的难民人口超过3.6万人，其中大部分来自索马里、埃塞俄比亚和也门。

胡塞武装于周四占领了红海港口城市摩卡，此后迅速控制了曼德海峡沿岸及周边岛屿。这场快速攻势迫使数千个家庭逃离家园，据报道，马格巴纳、贾巴尔哈巴什和马费尔等地区的整个村庄都已空无一人。