Number of displaced Yemenis drops by half: UN agency

By Mohammed Samei

SANAA, Yemen (AA) — The number of displaced people in war-torn Yemen has dropped by half in the first six months of 2023, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.

In a statement, the UN agency said that 3,482 households, or 20,892 individuals, were displaced in the period from January 1 to July 1, 2023, down from around 42,000 in the same period last year.

It cited Hudaydah, Marib and Taiz as the most prominent Yemeni provinces that witnesses displacement.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The nine-year civil war caused the death to nearly 400,000 people in Yemen, according to UN figures, along with millions who have been displaced from their homes and areas, making Yemen one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The war-torn nation, however, began to witness a state of de-escalation recently amid efforts by the UN to settle the conflict.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi