PEOPLE ON THE MOVE IN DECEMBER 2024

20,435 Migrant Arrivals

1,524 * New Displacements *individuals (254 households)

4,954 Yemeni Returnees

SITUATION OVERVIEW

In December, an escalation in hostilities between De-Facto Authority (DFA) and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was reported. The DFA announced its intention to continue military action against Israel until a ceasefire is established in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). In response, the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister vowed to continue responding to such actions with retaliatory strikes targeting DFA-controlled areas.

The situation further intensified when an Israeli airstrike hit Sana’a airport during a visit by World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Dr. Ghebreyesus expressed his shock at the targeting of civilian infrastructure. World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain also condemned the strikes, emphasizing that humanitarians must never be a target. The UN Secretary-General (UNSG), Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), and Internationally Recognized Government (IRG) expressed their concern over the strikes, with the UNSG warning that the airstrikes posed grave risks to humanitarian operations. Following the attack, humanitarian flights to Sana’a were temporarily suspended.

Amid this worsening security and political climate, the humanitarian situation in Yemen remains dire. Reports from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and WHO highlighted a spreading cholera outbreak. Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the Security Council on the growing challenges faced by the humanitarian response in Yemen, including a cholera outbreak affecting over 200,000 people and floods that have displaced more than half a million people. He also noted that the closure of vital programmes due to funding cuts has exacerbated the situation, increasing the total number of people in need from 18.2 to 19.5 million. On 23 December, WHO declared Yemen as the largest cholera-affected area in recent history, with Yemen accounting for 35 per cent of the global cholera burden and 18 per cent of reported global mortality.

On 16 December, UNICEF declared that December 2024 would mark the last month for its unconditional cash transfers (UCT) initiative in Yemen. This development is expected to exacerbate the needs gap for humanitarian response in Yemen, in addition to the possible cold-related deaths, as warned by the IRG in Ma’rib, with over 67,000 households living across 203 camps for internally displaced persons reportedly needing support. As the crisis in Yemen mounts, humanitarian actors and the international community remain concerned about addressing the needs of the affected population, with official reports stating that Japan has allocated $6.6 million to support the health, food security, and protection sectors in Yemen.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has continued to implement its multisectoral programming for the most vulnerable internally displaced persons, migrants, and host communities across Yemen. In December, IOM launched an appeal for additional funding to respond to the worsening humanitarian situation in Yemen, including the Voluntary Humanitarian Return (VHR) programme, which facilitates the safe return of migrants to their countries of origin. IOM continues to call for increased support to meet the growing needs of affected populations.