Displacement and Eviction in Yemen

Rights Report Documents Displacement and Deportation in Yemen
during 1 January - 31 July 2017

During the period covered by the report, from January 1st until July 31st, 2017, the Yemeni Coalition recorded the forced displacement, movement, and eviction of 2,403 families from their homes. This totaled to 17,428 individuals, including 4,546 women (26% of the total) and 5,640 children (32% of the total). According to the information that was gathered by the Yemeni Coalition team, the Houthi and Saleh militias were responsible for their forced displacement and deportation, and they used a number of methods to terrorize them and committed a number of violations to forcibly displace them from their homes. These methods include killing, physical attacks, siege, breaking into homes, taking over residential buildings, and blowing up homes to force people to leave.

The military clashes between the Houthi and Saleh militias and the armed forces loyal to the government caused the displacement of 3,494 families in a number of places in Yemen, adding up to 28,476 individuals. These families were displaced as a result of the military operations near residential areas and homes, and deliberate indiscriminate attacks on civilians. There were also hundreds of displaced families that the Coalition was unable to document or get information from during the period of the report.

Taiz is the governorate that saw the most forced displacement, deportation, and voluntary displacement of residents with 1,646 families forcibly displaced, most of which was described as mass deportation, while 1,228 families were voluntarily displaced. After Taiz comes the governorate of Amran, with 405 families. Most of the families were displaced individually on numerous occasions. Then comes Dhamar with 143 families, Dhale with 74 families, Lahj with 68 families, Ibb with 30 families, Jawf with 22 families, and 15 families from the governorates of Sana’a, the Capital Secretariat, Raymah, Sa’dah, Hajjah, and Mahwit. The governorate of Jawf came second after Taiz with regards to voluntary displacement with 1,174 families, then Dhamar with 568 families, Dhale with 168 families, then Ibb, Hajjah, Lahj, and Hudaydah, in that order.

The Coalition documented the killing of 23 displaced civilians while displaced because of the indiscriminate shelling, the air strikes, and snipers. These deaths were caused by the Houthi and Saleh militias and by the air force of the Arab coalition. The governorate of Taiz had the most victims, then the governorate of Sana’a. There were also 31 recorded cases of injuries among displaced civilians. Other crimes were committed against the displaced and those deported from their homes, including blowing their homes up (4 homes in Ibb and Taiz), damaging public and private property, and arbitrary violations and arrests. The planting of landmines by militants from the Houthi and Saleh militias was also one of the worst violations committed against displaced and deported civilians, and led to the death of 9 IDPs in Taiz and the injury of 14 others in Taiz and Sana’a.

The suffering of the displaced and evicted civilians only increased with the stopping and hindering of humanitarian aid provided by local and international organizations. Supplies provided to IDPs were looted by the Houthi and Saleh militias, and a number of vehicles used by officers from numerous organizations were looted by groups in the resistance in governorates that are under the control of the legitimate government.