Djibouti sees surge of Yemeni refugees as fighting escalates

More than 2,000 people have fled Yemen for neighboring Djibouti as fighting between Houthi forces and government troops intensifies and the Houthis tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that renewed violence in Yemen has displaced 85,818 people, including 82,000 since the beginning of September, Al Jazeera reports.

Djibouti’s Economy and Finance Minister Ilyas M. Dawaleh said on September 12 that 1,400 Yemenis had arrived in the country within 24 hours. The number has since surpassed 2,000, according to the latest IOM figures.

Dawaleh said in a separate post on September 11 that around 500 refugees, including women and children, had arrived in the coastal city of Obock after being rescued at sea when their boats ran out of fuel while crossing the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Located roughly 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Yemen’s coast, Obock has long served as a key arrival point for people fleeing the conflict in Yemen. The strategic strait is also used in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa traveling through Yemen toward Gulf countries.

Safiya Ibrahim, humanitarian response coordinator for the IOM, said vulnerable people were among those arriving in Djibouti.

“Vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days,” Ibrahim said.

Djibouti is already hosting tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. UN Refugee Agency figures from March 2026 put the registered refugee and asylum-seeker population at more than 36,000, with most originating from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen.

The latest displacement follows a rapid Houthi offensive that saw the group seize the Red Sea port city of Mocha and expand its control over coastline and islands around the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The offensive has forced thousands of families to flee, with entire villages reportedly emptied in areas including Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi and al-Maafer.

By Vafa Guliyeva