Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2025 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Displaced and Refugees

100,000 Yemenis displaced by Saudi-led Coastal Offensive, with Millions on edge of Famine

AFP 05/18/2018

Tweet
Share
Reddit
Email

Aden (AFP) – A Yemen government offensive backed by ground troops and warplanes of the Saudi-led coalition has displaced tens of thousands of people along the country’s western coast, Amnesty International said Thursday.

The rights group warned “the worst could be yet to come” after surveying civilians who made the perilous escape from front line towns south of Hodeida port, the focus of the offensive.

Saudi Arabia launched a coalition in Yemen on the side of the internationally recognised government in 2015, with the goal of rolling back the Iran-allied Huthi rebels.

The government offensive, backed by air power and ground troops, has been moving north along the Red Sea coast with the goal of seizing rebel-held Hodeida — the country’s largest port.

The United Nations says the offensive has displaced more than 100,000 people in the past six months, sending them fleeing to Aden and other government-controlled areas in the south of the country.

The journey is a costly one amid wartime inflation, to the point that many are staying behind under bombardment, Amnesty said in its report.

“The vast majority of those Amnesty International spoke to said they could only fund the trip by selling precious belongings, such as wedding rings, property deeds and livestock.

“They paid to leave on private buses and trucks, forking out an average of 10,000 riyals (around $30 under the conversion rate used in Huthi-controlled territories) per person, a small fortune in the local economy, where the clashes had forced many to stop working,” it said.

Millions of Yemenis are living on the edge of famine in what the United Nations calls the world’s gravest humanitarian disaster.

The escape from rebel-held coastal areas to government territory is also a dangerous undertaking, with buses carrying civilians at risk of hitting landmines and other explosive devices “planted by the Huthis in a bid to prevent government forces from advancing”, Amnesty said.

One woman said she fled during fierce clashes, and while she managed to bring her infant and toddler daughters, she left behind her mother and seven-year-old son in the chaos.

“We left not thinking we would survive,” she said.

Nearly 10,000 people have died in the Yemen conflict since the coalition intervened on behalf of the government three years ago. More than 2,000 others have died of cholera.

Feature photo: AFP/File / ABDO HYDER. The United Nations says the offensive has displaced more than 100,000 people in the past six months, sending them fleeing to Aden and other government-controlled areas in the south of the country.

Filed Under: Displaced and Refugees, Yemen

About the Author

AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, economics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. Headquartered in Paris, France, and founded in 1835, Agence France Presse is the third largest news agency in the world, after the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters. It has bureaus in 150 countries.

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Israel's Netanyahu banks on TACO Trump as he Launches War on Iran to disrupt Negotiations
  • A Pariah State? Western Nations Sanction Israeli Cabinet Members
  • Israel: Will Ultra-Orthodox Jews' Opposition to Conscription Bring down Netanyahu's Gov't
  • Women's Cancer Rates are Rising in the Oil Gulf: is Global Heating causing it?
  • Threat to Rule of Law: Sen. Padilla thrown to Ground, Cuffed at Noem DHS Press Conference

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2025 All Rights Reserved