Several hundred irregular migrants stranded at Yemen's border with
Saudi Arabia and being helped by IOM to return home, are
highlighting an emerging humanitarian crisis.

The migrants are part of an initial group of 2,000 Ethiopian
irregular migrants registered and referred to IOM by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the northern border town of
Haradh. They represent a fraction of the growing numbers of
migrants in a desperate plight unable to return home or to move
forward on their journey and without proper access to food, water
and shelter.

Yemen has long been a major transit route for migrants and
asylum-seekers from the Horn of Africa to the Middle East and
beyond. However, the conflict between Houthi insurgents and
government forces in Yemen's Saada province, and Saudi Arabia's
reinforcement of its border with Yemen in recent months, has led to
a bottleneck of migrants at Haradh, the only open crossing point
with Saudi Arabia.

Although most of the migrants in Haradh are young men from
Ethiopia, with some coming from Somalia and Sudan, there are also
women and children present.

The condition of most of the migrants in and around Haradh is
very poor. After a long and perilous journey by foot and by sea
from Ethiopia, Somalia or Sudan to the Saudi border that has left
them dehydrated and malnourished, many are in very bad health.

"The migrants are in dire need of humanitarian assistance," says
IOM's Mario Malanca, Practice Manager for Crisis Mitigation and
Recovery, currently in Haradh. "They sleep in open spaces, next to
the mosque and under the trees. They eat whatever scraps are left
for them. There is nothing here that can provide basic services for
the migrants, and their numbers are increasing."

The situation has become further complicated by the internal
displacement caused by the conflict between the Houthis and the
government. At least 320,000 internally displaced people are in
camps around Haradh. Although the local population had initially
been receptive to the needs of the migrants, the displacement
crisis has raised tensions between the two groups.

"We are putting all our efforts into easing the migrants'
situation and to help them to return back to their families," says
Malanca.

Later today and over the weekend, 950 Ethiopian migrants are due
to be voluntarily flown out of Yemen's al-Hodeidah airport on a
direct flight home to Ethiopia.

IOM staff and Ethiopian consular officials have been working
around the clock in Haradh to organize emergency travel documents
and to carry out medical screenings ahead of the journey. Before
their return home, the migrants are taken to a UNHCR-built
processing and departure centre run by a local non-governmental
organization, Charity for Social Services Welfare. The centre can
accommodate up to 200 people per night with UN agencies including
the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)
providing food and water to the migrants.

In Addis Ababa, IOM, together with the Ethiopian government, has
been preparing the ground for the migrants' return and for their
journey back to their homes. IOM and UNICEF will make sure that
vulnerable groups such as minors are provided care and support upon
their arrival, including family tracing.

The operation is being partly funded through the Rapid Response
Transportation Fund (RRTF), an IOM-maintained emergency fund which
can only be activated through a direct request to IOM to help
especially vulnerable groups of migrants. Additional funds are to
be provided by UNHCR and the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)
although more funds are needed to help the remaining 1,050 migrants
still stranded in Haradh.

For further information, please contact:

Fawzi Alzioud

IOM Yemen, Tel: +967 1 440 840, email: "mailto:fzioud@iom.int">fzioud@iom.int  or Mariolito
Malanca, Tel: + 41 79 250 0228