Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 22nd Sept. International Organization on Migration on Thursday warned that the communities in Yemen hit by 9 years of a relentless war are still struggling with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The agency said that the ongoing peace talks provide a glimpse of hope that a political resolution to the conflict is on the horizon.
Some 100 aid agencies on the International Day of Peace celebrated annually on 21 September, highlighted humanitarian needs remain staggering and the funding to respond is insufficient.
UN pledged conference for Yemen, only a fraction of what is required to meet the needs of millions.
Over 4.3 million people remain displaced across Yemen, despite a significant decrease in fighting since last year’s UN-brokered truce.
Most do not feel safe enough to return home anytime soon and plan to remain in the areas they have settled in for the foreseeable future IOM said.
Many are dispersed across hundreds of displacement camps in underdeveloped areas, mainly along the frontlines.
Others have sheltered in urban areas or among host communities where social services are more readily available, yet poverty is rife.
According to IOM, in the long term, concrete, durable solutions for displaced communities who have settled in new areas, likely for the long haul, is crucial.
It added that significant investments must be made to allow them to continue this lifesaving work and to promote a more sustainable future and long-term recovery through revitalizing agriculture, education, water systems, and other infrastructure.
Migrants remain some of those most vulnerable to the effects of the crisis.
The maritime route migrants take from the Horn of Africa to Yemen is the second busiest in the world.
According to the IOM displacement tracking matrix, 90,000 migrants mostly Ethiopian – have arrived on Yemen’s shores in 2023 so far,to reach Saudi Arabia.
Thousands have become stranded, IOM stated.
According to IOM the migrants have traveled too far and gone too deep in debt to turn around, but know the journey ahead is too deadly or costly.
IOM said the accounts from migrants of exploitation at the hands of traffickers and grave abuse on their journeys.
The migrants are promised good jobs and decent living conditions and do not anticipate the challenges they will face. Instead, thousands of migrants are sold into sexual slavery, tortured on video while their families are extorted, or forced to work for months without pay on farms, IOM said.
IOM warned the situation has become a trafficking crisis of extraordinary proportions.
Many struggle to access essential public services, like health care, shelter, sanitation facilities, and food while also experiencing stigma and discrimination.
Humanitarians mobilizing the eastern corridor migration route are striving to ensure assistance is available to people on the move and that those who wish to return home can do so safely and voluntarily.
The demand for these services continues to outweigh the resources available to respond to all migrants in need.
IOM said more efforts from world leaders to restore the rights of and end violence toward people on the move in Yemen regardless of background or migration status must be made.
Yemeni community members often go out of their way to help newcomers. Thousands of Yemenis work for humanitarian agencies in dangerous areas.
Some have moved far from their homes to lend a hand to communities in need across the country.
Host communities have stepped up to support and welcome those in dire need.
Yemeni doctors provide relief to people suffering from ailments on their journeys, engineers build extensive water networks in arid lands, community leaders help mitigate conflict over dwindling resources, and teachers spread knowledge to children whose education has been compromised by war.
The realization of the Sustainable Development Goals depends on supporting these unsung heroes to make concrete contributions to development and peace in countries in crisis.
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