Djibouti is asking the United Nations and international partners for urgent financial assistance after more than 2,500 Yemenis arrived since Thursday last week, Interior Minister Omar Abdi Said said on Wednesday. He warned the number could reach about 10,000 in the coming weeks and said the influx had exceeded the country’s national capacity.
Fighting drives movement across the Red Sea
Heavy fighting is under way in western Yemen between the Iran-backed Houthis and the internationally recognised government, which is backed by Saudi Arabia. Djibouti lies directly opposite Yemen across the Red Sea, making it a destination for people seeking safety. Read the context: Yemen displacement drives new arrivals on Djibouti’s coast.
The escalation is worsening Yemen’s humanitarian crisis and has raised concern about further internal displacement and additional people leaving the country. Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East.
What we know now
- The International Organization for Migration says its staff and local authorities are providing arriving Yemenis with food and water.
- IOM response coordinator Safiya Ibrahim said women, children, babies and sick people are arriving daily.
- Djibouti has a population of less than 1.2 million.
- More than 4.5 million people have been displaced in Yemen since the Saudi-led coalition intervened in the civil war in 2015.
Aid agencies face growing pressure
Said said Djibouti was facing increasing pressure as international funding declines. He called for financial resources that match the scale of the crisis.
IOM’s Djibouti office said its staff and local authorities were working on the ground to support new arrivals. Ibrahim said the agency was counting on additional financial support to continue its operations.
What happens next
Djibouti is calling on the United Nations and international partners to mobilise urgent financial resources as arrivals continue and the number of displaced people is expected to rise.
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