VI. Displacement During 2008

Displacement during the fifth round of fighting (May 10 to July 17, 2008)

Displacement into Sa'da town

By July 17, 2008, an estimated 17,000 to 20,000 IDPs (of whom about 80 percent were women and children) were living in seven camps managed by the Yemeni Red Crescent.[67] The camps are located in and around Sa'da town, the capital of Sa'da governorate.[68] An estimated 40,000 IDPs were also living with relatives or friends in Sa'da town.[69]

Displacement outside Sa'da town

Humanitarian access to rural areas in Sa'da governorate was almost non-existent in the first half of 2008, and remained limited after July 17, when President Saleh declared an end to the fighting. There are only estimates of the total number of IDPs in Sa'da's rural areas. Humanitarian NGOs estimated that by June 30 the conflict had displaced 14,700 people to rural areas throughout the governorate and 15,200 to neighboring 'Amran and al-Jawf governorates.[70]

In June 2008, the UN estimated that the conflict had displaced a total of 130,000 persons throughout the country, including the 60,000 known to be in Sa'da town.[71] This suggested that up to 70,000 IDPs had been displaced in rural areas or urban areas other than Sa'da town. An estimate by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in May 2008 that 100,000 civilians were "directly affected" by the war, of whom 40,000 were estimated at the time to be in Sa'da town, supports this figure.[72]

Persons displaced in the first half of 2008 and who were unable to reach Sa'da town tried to find shelter with relatives or friends. For example, during the fifth round of fighting, around 500 newly displaced who could not reach Sa'da town were living with relatives in Bakil Amir on the Saudi border.[73]Other IDPs, unable to find help, became refugees by crossing the border into Saudi Arabia.[74]

In Sa'da town, residents reported that 60 or more persons lived in houses that before the displacement had 20 family members.[75] Many IDPs only found shelter in mosques, schools, tents, caves, or on farmland under open skies. One displaced person told Human Rights Watch that he had seen other IDPs living in caves in a number of areas including in Rughafa, Dhahiyan, Sanam and al-'Aridh.[76]

A displaced person from Harf Sufyan told Human Rights Watch that in May 2008 he and 3,000 other inhabitants had fled the town after the community leaders warned them that the military would carry out aerial bombardment. They ended up living without any shelter on nearby mountains.[77] An international NGO confirmed that in May and June, some 2,000 IDPs from Harf Sufyan fled to neighboring al-Jawf governorate to the east.[78]

Ongoing displacement

Two weeks after the official end of fighting, on August 5, 2008, the Yemeni Red Crescent reported that 9,000 people remained in Sa'da town's seven camps, down from as many as 20,000.[79] Of the up to 40,000 IDPs living in Sa'da town with relatives, the ICRC in June estimated that 15,500 IDPs lacked access to clean water and medical care; the local government disputed this number, saying that most of the displaced families had returned home.[80] Other organizations found that a number of IDPs had returned to their villages during the last week of July 2008 only to find their properties completely destroyed, leaving them with no option but to return to the camps.[81]

In mid-August 2008, international aid agency staff told Human Rights Watch that IDPs who left Sa'da town for home returned after some Huthis told them they were not welcome because they had fled during the fighting, indicating that they opposed the Huthis.[82] According to information given to Human Rights Watch by a person who had recently visited Malahit, many IDPs who left Malahit town in late July to go home then returned to Malahit after Huthis in control of their home villages told them they would only be allowed to stay if they signed a statement that they would support the Huthis and not the government if another war broke out.[83]

Also in mid-August, the Yemeni Red Crescent reported that 1,100 families who had escaped intense fighting in Harf Sufyan district in 'Amran governorate in May 2008, and in Sa'da governorate between May and July 2008, were living in various districts of 'Amran governorate in abandoned houses, schools, and mosques, and were in serious need of humanitarian assistance.[84] As noted above, a community leader from Harf Sufyan confirmed in mid-August that 1,800 families could not return to their villages because fighting had completely destroyed their houses.[85]  According to a humanitarian agency staffer, some residents who had gone back to their homes in response to government encouragement subsequently returned to the IDP camps "because their houses were destroyed or because they were forced to make pledges to the Huthis."[86]