Yemen displacement tops 76,000 after Houthi gains, UN says

The renewed war in Yemen has displaced at least 76,000 people, the UN's International Migration Organization said Saturday, as people fleeing Houthi gains on the Red Sea coast put further pressure on Aden.

The IOM said the displacement figure had quadrupled over the past week and warned that needs were outpacing the support available. It said displacement was expected to rise further in the coming days.

Aden, the temporary seat of Yemen's internationally recognised government, was already struggling with earlier waves of displaced people. The social affairs ministry said the city had 755,000 officially registered displaced people in 2025, out of a population of 3.5 million.

Saddam Ali, who fled Al-Waziyah in Taiz province with his 11 children, told AFP that his family ended up on the streets in Aden and could not find water, food or shelter.

Abdulali al-Rajihi said he fled Mocha, the historic Red Sea port that fell to the Houthis on Thursday. He said residents were told to leave within half an hour and that many fled with only their children and the clothes they were wearing.

Aden has served as a provisional capital since the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. The war had been frozen by a ceasefire since 2022 but resumed in July. The UN warned last year that 17 million people in Yemen were struggling to eat and another one million faced extreme hunger.