UN official: Floods in Yemen have displaced more than half a million people, cholera is a serious concern

Yemen is experiencing a severe humanitarian crisis due to unprecedented floods and storms that have displaced more than half a million people. IOM is working to provide shelter, cash assistance and clean water in affected areas. However, it faces significant challenges due to lack of resources, damaged infrastructure and ongoing conflict.

Highlighting the situation in Yemen and the efforts of the UN agency, Matt Hooper, Acting Chief of Mission for IOM in Yemen, highlighted the severe humanitarian crisis caused by unprecedented floods and storms in areas such as Marib, Taiz and Hodeidah, where the organization is providing emergency shelter, cash assistance and clean water.

However, the agency faces significant challenges, including limited resources, damaged infrastructure and ongoing conflict, complicating relief efforts. IOM has launched an appeal for $13.3 million to scale up its response to meet growing needs.

Matt Hooper said health risks, particularly the spread of cholera, were a major concern. IOM is therefore focusing on repairing infrastructure and preventing disease outbreaks through sanitation and hygiene efforts.

Text of an interview conducted by the UN News website with Matt Hooper, Acting Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration in Yemen:

• More than half a million people have been severely affected by unprecedented floods and storms that have swept across large areas of the country. Tell us about IOM’s efforts to help those affected?

That's a very good question, because as you know, cholera re-emerged in Yemen last October - almost a year ago - and it's continuing to spread. In addition to severe storms that destroyed latrines and left latrine pits exposed and destroyed water systems, the situation was exacerbated by the intensification of the spread of cholera vectors.

One of our main concerns is that in a natural disaster like this, existing diseases such as cholera, acute watery diarrhoea and damage to water systems are exacerbated. This disaster has exacerbated the existing crisis in Yemen, putting pressure on limited health services.

IOM is stepping up efforts in public health and sanitation to prevent the increasing spread of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea, while supporting hospitals to provide essential health services and damaged clinics. For example, we are repairing water systems and latrines, distributing water purification supplies and ensuring families have access to clean and safe water.

Our health teams are working closely with local partners to assess needs and prevent the spread of waterborne diseases through awareness raising, distribution of hygiene kits and improvement of hygiene practices at the same time. We are closely monitoring areas that may witness a potential cholera outbreak.

This is critical work to keep families safe, especially as we anticipate more extreme weather, as I said, in the coming weeks. Despite the calm we've had for a week or two, the storm season is not over yet, and we still expect more storms in Yemen.

• Is the agency receiving sufficient funding to respond to the staggering scale of destruction and ensure that the most vulnerable are not left behind?

Security concerns, damaged infrastructure and access challenges in some areas make it extremely difficult to get assistance where it is most needed. IOM teams often navigate difficult terrain and insecure conditions to reach isolated communities, where there are tensions and tribal issues. It is therefore very difficult to reach some of these most vulnerable and needy people.

Another immediate challenge is the pressure on limited health services. It is difficult to deliver medicines to some areas. Health facilities have been damaged by flooding, preventing people from accessing medical care at a time when it is most needed, especially amid the cholera outbreak in Yemen.

There is also a risk of tensions rising between communities because of gaps in assistance. When some people are in dire need, even minor delays can cause frustration.

For example, if some affected people receive assistance, while others do not, this can cause frustration, tensions, and even conflict, in some circumstances where there is not enough assistance available to all people affected by floods and severe storms.

• Beyond the flooding issue, the migration route from the Horn of Africa to Yemen remains one of the most dangerous in the world, with thousands of migrants crossing it every year despite the ongoing conflict and deteriorating situation in Yemen. Tell us about the efforts the agency is making to help these people?

Yemen is part of the so-called Eastern Migration Route. It is one of the busiest and most trafficked migration routes in the world. Last year, 97,000 migrants – mostly from Ethiopia and Somalia – left their countries to reach Yemen, and then passed through Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia or the Gulf States. Unfortunately, due to the protracted conflict in Yemen, the issue of migration and the plight of migrants and the protection issues they face when they reach Yemen and when they pass through it at the hands of unscrupulous traffickers and smugglers are not sufficiently highlighted.

The migration route in Yemen is very dangerous. Migration continues despite all the horrific abuses migrants are subjected to. People flee their homes due to hardship and in search of better economic conditions in Saudi Arabia.

Unfortunately, these dreams are often shattered by unscrupulous traffickers and smugglers who exploit migrants and expose them to violence and harsh environmental conditions. Stranded migrants in Yemen are unable to find shelter and severe challenges prevent them from crossing borders to their intended destination.

• What options does IOM offer to migrants stranded in Yemen and in their country of origin? Does the agency help them return to their country of origin or offer them other alternatives?

IOM has implemented a comprehensive approach that includes providing immediate humanitarian assistance to migrants at arrival points and along migration routes, and we have migrant response points across the country, where migrants come and receive assistance such as food, water and shelter.

We also advise them to participate in the Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme, which is the most viable alternative for many migrants who have had horrific experiences while coming to Yemen, without knowing that the country is in conflict or is experiencing economic difficulties, and who see no future in their migration journey. So they come to IOM and we often try to help them return home. Our efforts are geared towards strengthening the capacity of local and regional actors to manage migration more effectively and humanely, and ensuring that migrants’ rights are protected throughout their journey.

For those migrants stranded in Yemen, IOM offers a Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme where they can register to return home, escaping the very real horrors some have experienced at the hands of cruel traffickers and smugglers.

For example, in the past year alone, through the Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme, generously funded by a number of donors, 6,600 migrants stranded in Yemen were able to return home. This is the largest number of migrants who have chosen to return voluntarily from Yemen in a single year.

This year, we have helped 3,285 stranded migrants return home through our Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme. We find this to be the most viable solution for stranded migrants facing severe protection risks. We help them return home and reintegrate locally in their places of origin after experiencing horrors that were unimaginable to them when they left their countries in Ethiopia and Somalia.

Source: UN News