YEMENIS FLEE TO AFRICA AS US-ISRAEL WAR AGAINST IRAN DRAGS ON
A rapidly worsening displacement crisis is unfolding in Yemen as the broader US-Israel war against Iran continues to reshape the region. At least 1,400 people have fled Yemen for Djibouti in just 24 hours, according to Djibouti’s Minister of Economy and Finance Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh.
The numbers are climbing by the hour.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that at least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July, up from 46,000 just days earlier…nearly quadruple last week’s total. Taiz province has been hardest hit, with roughly 50,000 displaced, followed by Lahj with nearly 17,000.
What’s driving the exodus:
The Iran-aligned Houthis launched a rapid offensive along Yemen’s Red Sea coast, seizing the strategic port city of Mocha and completing their takeover of the Bab al-Mandeb Strait area…a vital corridor for global shipping through the Suez Canal. Boats carrying armed Houthi fighters reached Perim Island, also known as Mayyun, which sits in the middle of the narrowest point of the strait.
With the Strait of Hormuz already disrupted by the US-Israel war on Iran, the Houthi gains give Tehran influence over two of the world’s most critical maritime chokepoints. According to Chatham House researcher Farea al-Muslimi, Iran now controls…directly and through proxies…more than 35% of global fuel and oil trade. “This is as much leverage as a nuclear bomb,” he said.
The human cost:
IOM Director General Amy Pope said families are being displaced for the second or third time “with almost nothing left”. Among the arrivals in Djibouti’s Obock region are women and children rescued at sea from boats stranded without fuel. Communications are disrupted and roads increasingly inaccessible, complicating aid delivery.
What’s your take….is the world prepared for the ripple effects of a prolonged Iran conflict ? Drop your thoughts below.