GENEVA: Renewed fighting in Yemen could see the number of refugees fleeing across the Red Sea to Djibouti jump to 10,000, while displacement inside Yemen could swell to over 230,000, the UN warned Tuesday.
The Iran-backed Houthis earlier this month seized control of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, in a dramatic offensive that has left hundreds of people on both sides dead, threatened global trade and pushed up energy prices.
The latest fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to the Aden-based government, backed by Saudi Arabia, has sparked a fresh humanitarian crisis. More than 100,000 civilians have been uprooted inside Yemen while others have risked dangerous sea crossings to flee the violence.
"Intensifying fighting in Yemen could drive more mass displacement," United Nations refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.
Already, more than 3,000 people have fled across the Red Sea to Djibouti in the space of a week. UNHCR said it was bracing for that number to rise significantly, especially after mid-October when the current difficult sea conditions are expected to improve.
The agency and its partners are now "planning for more than 10,000 arrivals in Djibouti" in the coming months, Baloch said.
At the same time, the number of people displaced within Yemen by the recent fighting could swell from more than 130,000 today to over 230,000 people, he said.
That comes on top of the more than 5.2 million people who were already internally displaced in Yemen before the fighting reignited.
Baloch warned that the renewed conflict was deepening an already dire crisis in Yemen, where an estimated 22 million people require humanitarian assistance.
He warned that a severe funding shortfall was hampering the response to the emergency, with UNHCR's Yemen operation currently just 18 percent funded for 2026.
The agency estimated that $25 million is urgently needed to provide around 231,000 people with immediate aid.
UNHCR's Djibouti operations are meanwhile only 15-percent funded, with the agency appealing for $13.5 million "to ensure arrivals can access registration, reception, protection and other essential services".
