A Houthi military escalation in Taiz and Hodeidah exacerbates the displacement crisis and requires government alert

Thousands of Yemenis displaced as a result of the recent Houthi escalation in western Taiz Governorate and southern Hodeidah Governorate are living in extremely difficult humanitarian conditions, in light of the continued expansion of the confrontations, while more than 80 percent of them are still without shelter.

According to government data, more than 12,000 people were displaced during the last three days alone, while thousands more are still stuck behind fire lines after the Houthis positioned themselves among the villages and the surrounding highlands.

Government sources on the Yemeni western coast told Asharq Al-Awsat that the districts of Mawza, Al-Waziyah and Dhubab received thousands of people fleeing the battles, due to the Houthi escalation in the districts of Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi and the transfer of confrontations to the center of population centers, while similar numbers took refuge in neighboring districts in search of safer areas.

Thousands of civilians are still trapped behind the contact lines, at a time when the risks facing families wishing to flee combat areas are increasing. The sources reported that the Houthi group targeted a car carrying a family fleeing the fighting in the Al-Kadha area, wounding four of its members, including seven-year-old children.

The Yemeni government called on the United Nations and humanitarian organizations working in the country to hold an emergency meeting before the end of this week or the beginning of next week, to discuss urgent interventions towards the displaced in western Taiz and southern Hodeidah.

As of last Friday evening, the Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons' Camps in Yemen monitored the displacement of 1,395 families in the governorates of Taiz and Hodeidah, as a result of the military escalation launched by the Houthi group in a number of areas, which prompted families to leave their homes and displacement sites and move to safer areas.

According to the unit's field reports, the number of displaced families in Taiz reached 1,149 families, distributed among the districts of Jabal Habashi, Al-Maafer, Maqbanah, Mawza', Al-Shamaytain, and Al-Mudhaffar, after their displacement from areas that witnessed escalation and bombing, especially in Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi, and Al-Maafer.

In Hodeidah, the unit monitored the displacement of 246 families to the districts of Hays and Al-Khawkhah, including 207 families to Hays and 39 families to Al-Khawkhah, as a result of war, clashes and armed conflict. The families were distributed among a number of villages and locations within the two districts.

The Executive Unit said that displaced families in the two governorates face increasing humanitarian needs, most notably shelter, food, drinking water, sanitation, health care, protection, and basic supplies, while some families need urgent shelter solutions, especially those who arrived without housing or are residing in temporary arrangements.

The Executive Unit teams in the two governorates continue to monitor and record the movement of displacement, follow up on the places where families settle and determine their needs, and coordinate with local authorities, concerned parties and humanitarian partners, with the aim of facilitating the reception of the displaced and enhancing the response to the increasing needs.

The unit warned of the possibility of the displacement movement continuing and expanding if the escalation continues, stressing the necessity of raising the level of preparedness, accelerating the humanitarian response, providing the basic needs of displaced families, and supporting the areas receiving them.

Recent UN data distributed by the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs showed that more than 27,000 civilians were displaced from the west of Taiz Governorate alone as a result of the Houthi escalation in the districts of Jabal Habashi and Maqbanah, and warned that these families eat less than three meals a day after moving to neighboring districts under government control.

The UN office stated that about 1,790 families in Taiz Governorate have been displaced since September 3 until now, as a result of renewed clashes and artillery shelling in several areas of the Maqbana and Jabal Habashi districts, west of the governorate.

According to the report, most of the displaced families moved within the districts of Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi, and moved to nearby villages or to relatives living in locations within the two districts, while other families headed to the districts of Al-Maafer and Al-Shamaytain, or to Mawza and Dhubab on the western coast, in search of safer areas.

The UN office indicated the evacuation of entire sites for the displaced in the Jabal Habashi and Maqbanah districts, including the Al-Hajab and Al-Rajhi sites, which caused second waves of displacement, warning that some families are still stuck near the front line areas due to the continued bombing and the difficulty of transportation.

For its part, the Displacement Tracking Matrix of the International Organization for Migration reported that it recorded the displacement of 274 families, including 1,644 individuals, during the last week of last August, bringing the total number of newly displaced families registered since the beginning of this year to 2,631 families, including 15,786 individuals.

The organization said in its weekly report that the recent escalation of the conflict in Taiz Governorate led to a significant increase in internal displacement cases, noting that estimates show the recent displacement of 215 families within the governorate within a week, while the majority moved to safer areas, especially the Mawza, Maqbanah and Al-Mukha districts.

It reported that 95 percent of the families were displaced for reasons related to the conflict, with a number of 261 families, while 4 percent of the families, 12 families, were displaced for economic reasons. Financial support emerged as the most urgent need for about 61 percent of displaced families, followed by shelter at 27 percent, food aid at 8 percent, and non-food items at 3 percent.

Over the past few hours, the Houthi group has intensified forced recruitment campaigns in a number of villages and regions of Ibb Governorate, targeting in particular young men and children, coinciding with the escalation of confrontations on the West Coast and Taiz fronts, and the group is incurring human losses, according to informed local sources who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources said that Houthi supervisors - based on directives from senior leaders in the group - began implementing recruitment and forced recruitment campaigns in a number of districts in the Western Square of Ibb Governorate, in an attempt to replenish their ranks with new elements and strengthen their military positions.

The sources added that recruitment operations focused on young men, in addition to targeting children in some areas of the districts of Al-Udayn, Branch Al-Adayn, Hazm Al-Adayn and Madhikhara, amid pressure and threats exerted against the families to push their children to join camps and sites affiliated with the group.

A resident of the targeted areas - who preferred to remain anonymous for fear that he or his family would be exposed to harassment - told Asharq Al-Awsat that since noon last Saturday, Houthi supervisors began moving between villages and residential areas, urging families to send their children to the front lines, amid increasing pressure on families.

He added that the campaign was not limited to young men, but rather included boys at an early age. Pointing out that some families are trying to avoid responding to conscription demands, for fear of throwing their children into areas of confrontation.

In another testimony, a resident of the governorate reported that the Houthi state of alert had become more apparent in a number of areas, coinciding with the intensification of supervisors’ movements and the holding of meetings with notables, notables and people of the targeted districts, with the aim of mobilizing new fighters.

He said that residents are living in a state of anxiety, with increasing talk about the possibility of the confrontations expanding and approaching the western regions of the governorate, adding that families fear that their children will be exposed to pressure to force them to join the front lines.

A local activist, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed that recruitment campaigns have become a growing source of concern for residents. Especially targeting younger groups, calling for protecting children and preventing them from being involved in military operations.

In the Al-Udayn branch district, adjacent to the areas of Jabal Ras and Al-Jarahi in Hodeidah Governorate, local sources reported to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Iran-backed Houthi group pushed dozens of new recruits to new positions, in conjunction with the establishment of military points and trenches in a number of towns, villages, and isolation areas located in the western regions of the district.

According to the sources, these movements came in the wake of a state of panic and alert among the group’s fighters, against the backdrop of what the sources described as the progress of the joint forces on the West Coast Front. The group faces increasing field pressure and losses among its members.

The sources explained that the group intensified its deployment in the western regions of the Al-Udayn branch, and worked to strengthen its positions and create new fortifications and points, in anticipation of any possible advance of the joint forces towards the areas adjacent to the district.

These movements come in conjunction with rapid military developments on the West Coast front, amid fears among the group - according to local and military sources - that operations will move to areas closer to Ibb Governorate.

According to the sources, the Houthi group is looking with concern at the possibilities of the joint forces advancing towards the city of Al-Jarahi in Hodeidah Governorate, then the Jabal Ras area, all the way to the western square districts of Ibb Governorate.

The sources believe that the proximity of these areas to Ibb Governorate explains - to a large extent - the state of alert that the group is witnessing in the governorate, and its attempt to strengthen its military and security presence by bringing in more members, intensifying recruitment operations, establishing new sites and points, and improving its fortifications in the western regions.

The sources indicate that these movements reflect - according to their assessment - the efforts of the Houthi group to prepare for any potential field developments that may be imposed by the rapid transformations on the West Coast Front. Especially in areas close to the contact lines.

The head of the Yemeni Leadership Council, Rashad Al-Alimi, confirmed that the armed forces, which have proven their steadfastness and decisive deterrence, are capable of liberating all of the state’s lands and continuing their constitutional duty to defend their citizens and the country’s supreme interests, stressing their progress towards the comprehensive national goal of restoring state institutions, as an irreversible option, no matter the sacrifices.

During his contacts with military and field commanders, Al-Alimi appreciated the victories and important field gains achieved by the armed forces and all the formations stationed in the fields on the Taiz and Hodeidah fronts, praising the units of the “National Resistance, Giants, and Al-Tuhamiya” brigades that completed the liberation and security of the Hays District, and the heroes in Haifan, and the active role of the Air Force in supporting forces on the ground and dealing efficiently with hostile threats in various theaters of operations.

Al-Alimi said, “The Houthis chose this adventure, and tested the state and its armed forces on one of the most solid fronts in Yemen, and they will bear the full consequences. They must now realize that their miscalculations will open the doors to a comprehensive downfall for them,” stressing: “Taiz will not be a safe passage for the projects and agenda of the militia’s supporters, and the armed forces responded to its attack and seized the initiative on the ground.”

According to the official news agency, the president was briefed on the latest developments in the operations, the gains achieved on the ground, the level of combat readiness, and the procedures for stabilizing and securing the liberated areas, and clearing the rest of the sites into which the militia infiltrated, directing “to continue performing military tasks responsibly and competently, maintain the initiative, and raise the level of coordination between the various units and formations in the theater of operations.”

He also directed all military commanders, units and formations to “strictly adhere to the provisions of international humanitarian law and the rules of engagement, protect civilians and public and private property, facilitate the arrival of aid and relief for the displaced, treat detainees well, and preserve their dignity and rights,” and said: “The hand that bears arms in defense of the republic must also remain the hand of the state and the rule of law.”

Al-Alimi stressed that the sacrifices of the heroes of the armed forces and military formations “will continue to be a subject of honor and loyalty to the state and the people,” and that “the pure blood of the martyrs is what today makes the Yemenis’ path toward restoring their state, freedom, and dignity,” directing the competent authorities to “provide the necessary care and treatment for the wounded, care for the families of the martyrs, and fulfill their rights and entitlements, on the basis that this is a national and moral duty that does not accept complacency or delay.”

The President held the Houthis fully responsible for the violations that accompanied their criminal escalation, and their targeting of residential areas and public roads with bombing, snipers, and drones, and the resulting civilian casualties, kidnappings, and displacement of hundreds of families, noting that “these crimes will not be subject to a statute of limitations, and that the progress of the armed forces will continue to be accompanied by the highest levels of concern for the lives and safety of citizens.”

Al-Alimi renewed his call on all political and social forces, thought and awareness platforms, and the media, to “unify the national ranks, strengthen confidence in the armed forces and all military formations, and not be drawn into campaigns of doubt, betrayal, bickering, and healing that only serve terrorist militias.”

He also called on tribesmen and those who were deceived in Houthi-controlled areas to “not throw their children into a battle that serves a project that has nothing to do with the interests of the Yemenis,” calling on those still in the ranks of the militia to “return to the right path, and not sacrifice their lives for leaders who have chosen to become dependent on cross-border sabotage projects.”