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More than 200,000 people have been forced from their homes in Yemen since renewed fighting broke out in recent weeks, according to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration (IOM), as the country faces its most serious escalation in years.
The number of displaced people has risen sharply from about 76,000 in mid-September to more than 200,000 as of Wednesday, with nearly all of them fleeing since the fighting intensified in early September.
IOM described the situation as alarming as clashes between the Iran-backed Houthi movement and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces continue to drive people from their homes.
"People are running for their lives and finding nowhere safe to go," IOM Director General Amy Pope said, while calling for more funding to meet growing food and shelter needs.
People have been displaced across 10 governorates, with Ta'iz suffering the largest impact, according to the U.N. agency.
The crisis has also pushed some Yemenis to leave the country by sea, with more than 3,700 people fleeing to Djibouti.
The latest fighting marks the most serious escalation between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis since a U.N.-brokered truce largely brought cross-border attacks to a halt in 2022.
The Houthis already control most of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, and last month took control of the country's entire Red Sea coast from forces aligned with the internationally recognized government, which is based in the southern port city of Aden.
The displacement crisis comes as food insecurity also worsens across parts of Yemen.
The U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday that three in four families in some areas were going hungry because of what it described as the "absolutely devastating" impact of the latest surge in fighting.
The renewed conflict could also reshape territorial control inside Yemen, with consequences for shipping routes running through the Red Sea.
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