Thousands Flee to Djibouti as Renewed Fighting Escalate Across Yemen

More than 3,400 people fleeing renewed fighting in Yemen have landed along Djibouti’s northern coast, according to Djiboutian authorities. The figure was reported by Djibouti’s state news agency on Sunday, covering just 48 hours of arrivals as part of a surge that officials say began the previous weekend.

The crossings followed a Houthi offensive in which the group, which controls much of northern Yemen, seized the Red Sea port of Mocha and advanced along the coast towards the narrow strait separating Yemen from Djibouti. Djibouti, with fewer than 1.2 million people and limited resources, faces severe strain on its already stretched services.

Footage aired on Djibouti’s state broadcaster RTD showed wooden dhows and larger vessels arriving near the town of Obock, crowded with women in black robes and children wearing life jackets. Alexandre Coissac, who heads the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Djibouti, told Al Jazeera that people have arrived on all kinds of sea vessels.

UNICEF reported that children making the crossing were exposed to extreme heat, dehydration, and a lack of safe drinking water. The IOM stated that fighting had driven residents out of entire districts in Yemen, including Maqbanah and Jabal Habashi, putting wider displacement at more than 85,000 people in just the first two weeks of September.

Djibouti’s Finance Minister Ilyas Dawaleh documented the accelerating arrivals on X, noting the heavy burden on the country. Prime Minister Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed travelled to Obock to meet officials from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Programme, and the IOM as authorities prepared to receive up to 10,000 people.

The influx also places pressure on the strategic Bab al-Mandeb shipping corridor, a vital route for global seaborne trade. Djibouti hosts foreign military bases from the United States, China, France, Japan, and Italy to help protect shipping in the contested waterway.

Djibouti already hosts more than 36,000 registered refugees and asylum seekers, primarily from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Yemen, with the Markazi camp near Obock accommodating the new arrivals alongside the generosity of local residents in Obock.