GENEVA / TAIZ — More than 250,000 people have been internally displaced across Yemen since the country's war reignited in July, the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Tuesday, as fighting between the Iran-aligned Houthis and forces loyal to the internationally recognised government rages across several fronts — a figure of 250,000 means, in South Asian terms, more than two and a half lakh people driven from their homes. The southwestern city of Taiz is at the epicentre of the crisis, accounting for 76 per cent of departures and hosting 52 per cent of the newly displaced, UNHCR said; the southern governorates of Lahij and Aden host 23 per cent and 13 per cent of the newly displaced respectively.

UNHCR said shelling had intensified in Taiz, including in residential areas and around health facilities, while insecurity and restrictions along key routes continue to constrain humanitarian access and civilian movement. Houthi forces have encircled Taiz since early October and blocked the primary road connecting the city to Aden, the interim capital of the Saudi-backed government, according to reporting on the UNHCR briefing. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Taiz without delay, saying the blockade of the city's supply route poses a serious threat to civilians.

Outlining the most urgent needs, UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told a news conference in Geneva that they centre on shelter, food and multi-purpose cash assistance, and that approximately 33,700 families still require shelter support — a need the agency said is being hampered by severe underfunding of the wider humanitarian response. The World Health Organization's spokesperson Tarik Jašarević said intensifying fighting, mass displacement and more frequent disease outbreaks were further straining an already overburdened health system, with Taiz hospitals lacking essential supplies and cholera cases rising sharply in displacement camps. UNICEF has separately warned that fighting and fuel shortages in Taiz threaten water systems serving an estimated three million people.

The renewed conflict between the Houthis and Yemen's government intensified again after the US-Israeli war with Iran began in late February, and a Saudi-led military coalition supports the Yemeni government. For the lakhs of Indian and Punjabi workers across the Gulf, the Yemen escalation matters beyond Yemen's borders: it is the same regional war that has brought Houthi strikes on Saudi energy and airport targets, pressure on Red Sea and Gulf shipping, and higher oil prices in recent weeks.

Sources: Al Jazeera, 'More than 250,000 displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated: UNHCR', 20 October 2026; Daily Baltic / LRT (dpa), 'Renewed fighting in Yemen displaces more than 250,000 people', 20 October 2026; UNHCR briefing reported via MisrYoum and NewsCord, 20 October 2026.