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Tens of Thousands of African Migrants Arrived in Yemen in 2023

Forty-three thousand African migrants are stranded in Yemen in miserable conditions. (United Nations)
Forty-three thousand African migrants are stranded in Yemen in miserable conditions. (United Nations)
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Tens of Thousands of African Migrants Arrived in Yemen in 2023

Forty-three thousand African migrants are stranded in Yemen in miserable conditions. (United Nations)
Forty-three thousand African migrants are stranded in Yemen in miserable conditions. (United Nations)

Recent UN data has shown a spike in African migrants arriving in Yemen. Around 200,000 who have arrived in the war-torn country with the aim of illegally entering Gulf countries in search of jobs.

Roughly half arrived during the first seven months of this year.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) confirmed the continued flow of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa to the shores of Yemen, while the number of those who returned to their country did not exceed 5,000 in 2023.

Out of the 200,000 migrants, approximately 43,000 migrants are stranded across the country.  

Since early 2022, IOM has supported more than 5,700 stranded migrants and victims of trafficking to safely return to their home countries from Yemen. Approximately 300,000 vulnerable migrants have also benefited from humanitarian assistance in Yemen, Somalia, and Djibouti.

So far in 2023, the IOM has assisted 5,631 migrants, including 5,572 Ethiopians, to return home.

The IOM is now appealing for $58.5 million through the Migrant Response Plan (MRP) for the Horn of Africa and Yemen to continue this vital support in the region.

Yemen, a country already ravaged by years of war caused by the Iran-backed Houthi militias, continues to face the harsh reality of displacement.

The first half of 2023 has seen a decrease in the number of people displaced from their homes in Yemen. The DTM recorded more than 21,066 people were forced to flee their homes, seeking safety and shelter elsewhere in the first six months of the year.

This is a half decrease from the same period in 2022 when 42,012 displacements were reported.

The governorate with the highest number of displacements in the first half of 2023 was Marib, with 1,455 households (HHs), followed by Taiz (572 HHs), Hodeidah (416 HHs), Shabwah (409 HHs) and Lahj (341 HHs). The governorates with the lowest number of displacements are Abyan, Dhale, Hadramawt, and al-Mahra.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak met with IOM Regional Director for Middle East and North Africa Othman Belbeisi in the interim capital Aden.

They discussed cooperation between Yemen and the IOM as well as the impact of the increased number of illegal migrants on Yemen’s security and economy. They also discussed the Organizations’ programs in the country.

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Arab World

UN Humanitarian Chief Slams Aid Plan for Gaza Proposed by Israel, Backed by US 

A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
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UN Humanitarian Chief Slams Aid Plan for Gaza Proposed by Israel, Backed by US 

A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)
A Palestinian boy has a bite from a ration of hot food from a charity kitchen set up at the Islamic University campus in Gaza City on May 12, 2025.(AFP)

United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher on Tuesday criticized an Israel-initiated and US-backed humanitarian aid distribution plan for Gaza as a "fig leaf for further violence and displacement" of Palestinians in the war-torn enclave.

"It is cynical sideshow. A deliberate distraction," Fletcher told the UN Security Council.

No humanitarian aid has been delivered to Gaza since March 2, and a global hunger monitor has warned that half a million people face starvation, a quarter of the enclave's population.

Israel proposed last week that private companies would take over handing out aid in Gaza's south once an expanded Israeli offensive starts in its war there, which began in October 2023 after Hamas attacked Israel. Aid deliveries have been handled by international aid groups and UN organizations.

"We can save hundreds of thousands of survivors. We have rigorous mechanisms to ensure our aid gets to civilians and not to Hamas, but Israel denies us access, placing the objective of depopulating Gaza before the lives of civilians," said Fletcher.

Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid, which the group denies, and is blocking deliveries until Hamas releases all remaining hostages.

Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar, currently on an official visit to Japan, said on Wednesday that Israel endorsed what he called "the American humanitarian plan" under which aid would be provided by a private fund.

"It will go directly to the people. Hamas must not be allowed to get their hands on it," Saar said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has rejected Israel's proposal, saying in April it risked "further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour."

The UN says any aid distribution must be independent, impartial and neutral, in line with humanitarian principles.

Fletcher said the UN has met more than a dozen times with Israeli authorities about their proposed aid distribution model to find a solution but without success. Minimum conditions include the ability to deliver aid to all those in need wherever they are in Gaza, he said.

Amid the stalemate, the United States last week backed a mechanism for Gaza aid deliveries to be handled by private companies, an approach that appeared to resemble Israel's proposal, but gave few initial details about the plan.

"We will not allow the old, broken system to remain in place," Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told the council. "We appreciate the efforts to build a new mechanism, one grounded in accountability."

US WORKING WITH ISRAEL

Senior US officials were working with Israel to enable a newly established Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to "provide a secure mechanism capable of delivering aid directly to those in need, without Hamas stealing, looting or leveraging this assistance for its own ends", acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the Security Council on Tuesday.

She urged the UN and aid groups to cooperate, saying the foundation would deliver aid consistent with humanitarian principles and would "ensure its own security so that commodities reach civilians in need".

"While some humanitarian organizations may ultimately choose not to engage in these conversations, others have chosen a more constructive path, and they will be able to deliver aid in an appropriate way, hopefully very soon," Shea said.

Fletcher said the Israeli-designed distribution model was not the answer. This was in part because Israel said it would limit aid distribution to south Gaza during its planned offensive and people would have to relocate to access aid there.

"It forces further displacement. It exposes thousands of people to harm," Fletcher told the council. "It restricts aid to only one part of Gaza while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip."

Most of the 15-member Security Council expressed concern about the proposed aid distribution plans.

"We cannot support any model that places political or military objectives above the needs of civilians. Or that undermines the UN and other partners' ability to operate independently," Britain, France, Slovenia, Greece and Denmark said in a joint statement before the council meeting.

The war in Gaza was triggered on October 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 52,700 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza health authorities.