LCRDYE

Yemen: UNHCR Operational Update, 15 March 2019

Key figures:

24M people in need

3.34 M displaced in the last three years

81% of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) displaced for more than one year

1M IDP returnees

1.2M IDPs given inkind or cash assistance in 2018

274,162 refugees and asylum-seekers

Funding

USD 198.6 M required for 2019 operations

IDP Response

The latest data released by the UNHCR led Protection Cluster reports that, on average, nearly 100 civilian deaths or injuries were recorded each week in 2018. According to the Civilian Impact Monitoring Report for 2018, more than 4,800 civilian deaths and injuries were reported over the course of the year, resulting in an average of 93 civilian casualties per week. Thirty percent of civilians were reported to have been killed and injured inside their homes. A fifth of all civilian casualties recorded were inflicted on children (410 deaths and 542 injuries).

UNHCR continues to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing the frontlines. Over 2,800 families have been provided with core relief items (CRIs). During the week, UNHCR made a distribution of CRIs in Al Ta’iziyah district (354 families) and in Al Jawf governorate (1,750 families). The latter are temporarily settled in western districts, such as Rajuzah, Barat Al Anan and Kharab Al Marashi. Another 750 IDP families in Kitaf wa Boqe’e district (Sa’ada governorate) were also provided with CRIs.

UNHCR’s partner YARD received 1,000 emergency shelter kits (ESKs) and 730 CRIs in Al Jawf for the purpose of pre-positioning stocks, while 2,760 CRIs and 730 ESKs are on standby for delivery to Ibb, Taizz and Sana’a partner warehouses. These kits support families with the repair of shelters and infrastructure severely damaged during the conflict. A total of 4,611 CRIs have been distributed, with 47 per cent provided to the northern governorates of Sa’ada and Al Jawf and 28 per cent for the southern governorate of Lahj.

In Yemen’s central west governorates, IDP families continue to flee the frontline that encircles the region. During the week, 1,059 IDP families in the governorates of Amanat Al Asimah, Amran, Dhamar and Al Bayda received CRIs.

Refugee Response

Two training sessions on international refugee law “UNHCR Mandate and the 1951 Convention” were conducted for 30 law students from the Faculty of Sharia and Law at Ibb University by the legal unit of the Branch Office in Sana’a. The sessions were part of a fifteen-day workshop led by the Migration and Refugee Studies Centre (University of Sana’a), whom UNHCR has supported since 2009. As part of the program, moot court sessions will allow students to put refugee law into practice, under supervision of experienced staff from the Attorney-General and Public Prosecution Offices.

A total of 3,086 refugees, asylum-seekers and host community members received medical consultations at the four health clinics supported countrywide by UNHCR, and 157 patients were referred to specialized hospitals. A total of 5,809 persons attended various awareness-raising sessions on vaccination, family planning, HIV and STDs prevention, as well as communicable diseases.

On 8 March, 139 Somali refugees departed Aden for Berbera, Somalia. This is the twenty-ninth departure by boat for the Assisted Spontaneous Return programme (ASR) since 2017 and the third this year. An estimated 5,000 Somali refugees have departed Yemen in 2019 so far. A total of 48 Somali refugees approached the Return Help Desk in Basateen and Mukalla registration centres for counselling and voluntary return related information.

https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/yemen-unhcr-operational-update-15-march-2019

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