The UN refugee agency said Friday at least 125,000 people in Yemen have fled their homes since August because of the conflict between government forces and tribal groups. The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees says the total displaced population in Yemen has reached a quarter of a million since the conflict flared up in 2004. UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says that as the fighting has moved away from the main northern city of Saada it is driving civilians from areas further northwest from their homes as well. This had led to “a steady influx” of around 1,000 families, some 7,000 people, arriving in Hajjah province each week over the past six weeks, he said. Most families were from Saada. He says the collapse of the local economy is also increasing the flow of displaced persons. Mahecic told reporters in Geneva Friday that “people simply cannot sustain themselves any longer in Saada province.” According to the UNHCR, the five-year conflict has so far driven 250,000 people from their homes, deepening the humanitarian crisis. The number of displaced in Yemen has doubled since August when the latest round of fighting between the government and rebels erupted, it said. Fighting between Yemeni troops and rebels has flared on and off since 2004 in Saada province. Aid agencies including the UNHCR and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) say that fighting prevents them from delivering aid to Saada province. It is increasingly difficult for the displaced to make ends meet and get access to health and education, Mahecic said. The lack of adequate shelter for the displaced in Hajjah is a major concern, despite the existence of three camps, he said. “Many displaced Yemenis are in makeshift sites which have mushroomed along the roads leading to the camps,” Mahecic said, adding that the situation was also difficult in Amran province.
