Yemen: Government adopts new policy to help nearly 300,000 IDPs
| Publisher | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC) |
| Publication Date | 9 July 2013 |
| Cite as | Norwegian Refugee Council/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (NRC/IDMC), Yemen: Government adopts new policy to help nearly 300,000 IDPs , 9 July 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/51dd2d874.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
After extensive consultations with stakeholders since mid-June, a national policy to protect citizens of Yemen in the stages of displacement was adopted by the Cabinet on 25 June. The policy seeks to prevent involuntary displacement, protect those who have been forced to flee, and help find long-term solutions to displacement. The new policy framework provides that an implementing and monitoring body will be formed under the Prime Minister's office.
Attention and funding to the humanitarian crises in Yemen has been decreasing , despite a need for continued engagement for more than half of the population of Yemen who are in need of humanitarian assistance with only a third currently receiving aid. There are currently about 299,000 IDPs, the overwhelming majority of them living outside of camps. By the end of May, some 232,000 IDPs had returned to their places of origin, mainly in the south, where they were still in need of assistance.
About 293,000 people remain displaced in the north of the country due to repeated rounds of fighting in and around Sa'ada Governorate, from 2004 to 2010. Only five per cent of the IDPs live in camps with the overwhelming majority living with host families and in informal settlements. While over 90 per cent of IDPs in the south of Yemen had returned at the beginning of April as a result of improved conditions, their needs remain largely unmet.
