Fighting uproots 112,000 in Yemen, thousands flee to Djibouti: UN

Across the Red Sea, nearly 3,000 people have arrived in Djibouti in less than a week after making the perilous crossing from Yemen, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Houthi supporters attend a rally against the Saudi-led coalition in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman) (AFP) — Renewed fighting in Yemen has displaced more than 112,000 people and forced nearly 3,000 others to flee across the Red Sea to Djibouti, the United Nations said Friday. Iran-backed Houthis seized control of Yemen’s Red Sea coast last week, tightening their grip on the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital shipping gateway linking Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal. The latest fighting between the Houthis and forces loyal to the Aden-based government has also sparked a new humanitarian crisis, uprooting civilians inside Yemen and prompting others to risk dangerous sea crossings to escape the violence. The International Organization for Migration has recorded more than 112,000 internally displaced people since the fighting began, Abdusattor Esoev, the U.N. agency’s chief in Yemen, told reporters. Most were displaced over the past two weeks, primarily along the west coast and in the provinces of Taiz and Lahj, he said from Aden. Across the Red Sea, nearly 3,000 people have arrived in Djibouti in less than a week after making the perilous crossing from Yemen, according to the U.N. refugee agency. The influx is adding pressure to a country of about 1 million people that already hosts around 36,000 refugees, most of them from Somalia and Ethiopia, said Sandrine Desamours, a representative of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She added that “while the number may sound small,” it must be considered in proportion to the country’s population. After years of relative calm, Yemen was drawn back into conflict in July amid wider regional fallout from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. A previous war between the Houthis and Yemen’s Saudi-backed government, from 2014 to 2022, killed hundreds of thousands of people and plunged the Arab world’s poorest country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.