1,400 Yemenis flee to Djibouti within 24 hours

Yemeni refugees arrive in Obock, Djibouti, within 24 hours as Houthis tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb strait.About 1,400 people have fled Yemen for Djibouti in a 24-hour period, Djibouti’s economy and finance minister says, as Houthi fighters tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb strait.Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh wrote on X on Saturday: “1,400 refugees arrived in Djibouti from Yemen in just 24 hours.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Closure of al-Makha port leaves workers and traders fearing for the futurelist 2 of 3Saudi Arabia announces start of Red Sea defence alliance: Will it work?list 3 of 3Djibouti’s President Guelleh wins sixth straight term in officeend of listIn a separate post on Friday, the minister said that 500 refugees had arrived in the coastal city of Obock, including women and children, after they were rescued at sea when their boats ran out of fuel while crossing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.Obock, a city only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) across the water from the Yemeni coast, has for several years been a preferred arrival point for those seeking refuge from war-torn Yemen. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is also used in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa, who transit through Yemen on their way to Gulf countries.Safiya Ibrahim, humanitarian response coordinator for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP that “vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days”.The IOM warned on Friday that at least 46,000 people had been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week.“Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left,” Amy Pope, the IOM director general, said in a statement. “As fighting spreads, reaching people with lifesaving assistance is becoming harder. We urgently need safe, unimpeded access.”