More than 290,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since the country's war re-erupted in August, according to a report by the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) published on Friday and reported on Saturday. Fighting between forces loyal to Yemen's internationally recognised government and Houthi rebels has intensified, particularly in Taiz governorate and in coastal areas.

Source: Al Jazeera via Grenada Chronicle (Oct 31, 2026)

The new displacement comes on top of more than 5.2 million people who were already internally displaced in Yemen before August. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN Population Fund estimated that nearly 6,100 pregnant women were among those recently displaced, including about 600 expected to give birth within the next two weeks, and that the agency has deployed mobile teams and midwives to displacement sites and is delivering maternal health supplies.

290,000+people newly displaced since fighting re-erupted in August
5.2 millionpeople already internally displaced before August
6,100pregnant women among the newly displaced, about 600 due within two weeks
249,000displaced people reached so far with food, hygiene supplies and emergency cash

Refugees inside Yemen are also being hit

The OCHA report also warned that more than 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers living in Yemen face a rapidly deteriorating situation, with services disrupted and food and fuel prices rising fast. The UN refugee agency has raised particular concern about the Kharaz refugee camp in Lahj governorate, near the front line, and has helped more than 600 Somali refugees return home voluntarily since August. Thousands more Yemenis have fled across the Red Sea to Djibouti.

The civilian toll, as reported

The UN has verified 270 civilian casualties since August, including 68 people killed, half of them children. Separately, the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms said its field team in Taiz province recorded at least 189 civilians killed between September 1 and October 29, including 38 children and 27 women — figures reported here as that network's own recording, alongside its reports of road closures cutting food, medicine, fuel and water supplies to around two million people in the area.

What the UN is asking for

The UN reiterated its call for all parties to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, respect international humanitarian law, and allow safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access so assistance can reach everyone who needs it. It warned the fighting shows no sign of easing.

Yemen's war first broke out in September 2014, when Houthi forces captured the capital, Sanaa. Fighting re-erupted in August after Yemeni government forces targeted Sanaa's airport, and the Houthis have since launched a sweeping offensive on Yemen's coast. The government has announced an offensive of its own to retake territory — the context in which the new wave of displacement is unfolding.