People from Yemen’s western coast are facing displacement again

Since September 2026, the military escalation in Yemen between Ansar Allah forces and the internationally recognised government backed by Saudi Arabia has plunged people back into uncertainty. More than 230,000 people have been displaced from the western coast of Yemen, seeking refuge as far as possible from the frontline amid insecurity and uncertainty about how the situation will unfold.

For many, this is not the first time they have had to flee for their lives since the start of the war in 2015. The story repeats in a country facing a worsening and chronically underfunded humanitarian crisis, with malnutrition and cholera on the rise.

Maher was a fisherman in Mocha before he had to flee last month, together with five other families.

“We fled by a miracle; the roads were already closed,” he says. “It was a long distance; we walked almost a day and a half and took a bus.”

Maher is currently residing in Atira displacement camp, Lahj governorate, around 250 kilometres from Mocha.

“We sought refuge in the camp, but there were no tents,” Maher says. “We stayed under the trees for almost a week in the middle of the wind before they could give us a tent.”

An extension was built at Atira camp to host the 150 newly displaced families. Today, around 310 families who have been displaced over the past decade of war live together in this desert-like land, which is kilometres away from any infrastructure and exposed to the burning sun.

“Displaced people are in critical need of medical and humanitarian support,” says Itta Helland-Hansen, MSF country coordinator in Yemen. “MSF has been conducting assessments and carrying out medical activities in different informal settlements and displaced camps and has witnessed the extremely difficult conditions displaced people are living in.”
 
“We see pregnant women who have not had access to a single antenatal care consultation and who had to deliver in unequipped and unsanitary places; we keep referring acutely malnourished children to hospitals that are already reaching their full capacity; and we see how medical complications increase due to the limited access to healthcare,” says Helland-Hansen.

Many displaced people are running low on their medications, especially those living with chronic diseases.

“Our teams are seeing patients with empty boxes of medication for epilepsy, hypertension, and diabetes, desperately asking for more,” Helland-Hansen says.

According to the World Health Oragnization (WHO), only US$3.78 million has been secured of the US$31 million needed to fund a 90-day emergency response in Yemen. Before the latest military escalation, efforts to address Yemen's general humanitarian crisis were severely underfunded, with only 22 per cent of necessary funds secured.

Fatima and her eight children fled Mocha at night, in a hurry, because of the shelling. She reached Atira camp with almost nothing at hand
 
“Our main issue here is access to drinking water,” she says. “I do not have money to buy bottles, and my kids are thirsty. The water available in the tanks is salty. I am very tired; I suffer from heart and hypertension issues and had to push my kid, who uses a wheelchair, for long distances.”

Latrines are not yet available for the newly displaced people in Atira, increasing the risk of cholera spreading; cases have tripled in the past three weeks, the WHO has warned.

In Mocha, western Yemen, the context remains volatile as the fighting continues. Our teams are maintaining their paediatric and maternal activities at Mocha General hospital, and continue to support a general healthcare centre in Khokha, 50 kilometres north of Mocha. We also restarted our support in Mafraq Al-Mocha's general healthcare centre, 40 kilometres northeast of Mocha, after two weeks of disruption due to violence.

Patients’ medical needs may be exacerbated by a context in which humanitarian and medical organisations struggle to respond, and access to supplies, such as ready-to-use therapeutic food for malnourished children, becomes increasingly difficult. In Khokha, cases of acute watery diarrhoea have almost doubled in the past week, from 28 to 52.

“In this context, an urgent scale-up and inclusive response to displacement needs, including water and sanitation, the improvement of living conditions, and outbreak prevention, must be prioritised,” says Helland-Hansen.

Since 15 September, MSF has carried out more than 1,000 consultations in mobile clinics across Aden and Lahj governorates. The most common health conditions teams have seen, such as upper respiratory tract infections (245 cases), urinary tract infections (127), and gastritis (79), were linked to poor living conditions.