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10,500 refugees arrive in Yemen by sea since start of conflict: UNHCR

Xinhua, July 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported Tuesday that some 10,500 new sea arrivals have been in reported in Yemen since the conflict started on March 26, and that over 37,000 refugees and migrants had braved the crossing so far this year.

UNHCR indicated that though most of the refugees originated from Ethiopia, Somalis and other nationalities were also reported to have arrived on Yemeni soil.

According to reports, many of the refugees were tricked by smugglers who mislead them into believing that the Yemeni conflict was over and that the situation in the country was safe.

Yemen, which is home to some 250,000 refugees, mostly Somalis, has seen much of its refugee population flee the urban centers where they were based to move to Kharaz camp and towns in southern parts of the country.

"Many refugees are now trying to self-evacuate by taking boats back to Somalia or Djibouti, or to move towards Saudi Arabia to seek refuge there," UNHCR Yemen Representative Johannes van der Klaauw explained, highlighting the challenge of monitoring and providing assistance to the dispersing refugees.

Since the escalation of the conflict, UNHCR indicated that over 51,000 people have fled Yemen for Djibouti, Somalia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Sudan.

Together with partners, the UN Refugee Agency is also dealing with the rising numbers of internally displaced people (IDPs) who have fled their homes because of the crisis which has claimed the lives of 1,670 civilians and injured a further 3,829 between March 26 and July 13 this year.

Figures show that the number of internally displaced Yemenis has now reached 1,267,590, with the largest concentration of IDPs located in Hajjah (298,788), Al Dhale (227,414) and Aden (184,100).

According to experts, four out of every give Yemenis are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance. Endit