Displaced Yemeni families torn apart by ongoing conflict

By Muhammad Al-Wafi

HAJJAH, Yemen (AA) - Yemen has been in the throes of a severe humanitarian crisis that has aggravated the suffering of millions of people.

The nine-year-conflict has pushed Yemeni families to leave their homes for safer areas, leading to the displacement of about 4.5 million people, most of whom are children and women, according to a UN report.

Yemenis living in cities are at the forefront of displaced people as a result of the violent battles between government forces and the Houthis.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iranian-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including Sanaa.

- Grave suffering

In the barren desert of the Al-Makhzan area, in the coastal city of Midi, far northwest of Hajjah Governorate, more than 150 families suffer the bitterness of displacement for the eighth year under harsh environmental and economic conditions.

Muhammad Mutanbek, 38, accompanied by his wife and seven children, told Anadolu: “We decided to leave after days of fear and terror due to artillery shelling and the ongoing clashes around Midi in the middle of the first year of the war.”

Mutanbek described leaving his home behind as “the most difficult moment that changed the course of his life and the future of his children forever.”

“In the past eight years, my family and I had to move in between four different areas, starting from my hometown in the Al-Makhzan, passing through the Hiran District, reaching the Abs District, and then returning to Bani Fayed, more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) away from Midi,” he said.

- Fragile Tents

The displaced Yemeni people also suffer deteriorating living conditions. Their tents do not last more than six months due to wear and tear.

Mutanbek said that "most of the displaced people resort to using tents built of straw and tree branches, in addition to mud.”

“Such tents usually collapse after a period of six months, due to the harsh climatic conditions,” Mutanbek said.

“During the past four years, I have had to build five tents for my family,” he added.

Mutanbek said “it takes about 10 days to build one tent.”

“We have to collect straw and branches from unsafe areas containing war remnants and mines, in addition to securing ropes and tarps,” he added. “The construction costs reach $400.”

According to the Department of Displaced Persons’ Camps, more than 3 million displaced people are distributed in 13 governorates, 646 camps, and 927 centers.

The number of displaced people in Hajjah Governorate alone is estimated at more than 19,000 displaced people.

- No source of income

Hassan Jarbahi, an official at the Directorate of Midi District, said: "The number of families displaced in the district reached more than 500, including nearly 200 families living in extreme poverty."

Jarbahi told Anadolu that "a large part of the displaced live in tents that do not have the most basic necessities of life.”

“Most of them struggle to secure their livelihood through daily wages,” he added.

Abdullah Hadi, who used to be a teacher at a school in Midi district, told Anadolu that "40 days after the clashes started in Midi, all families, including mine, left for the camps.”

Hadi stated that "most of the displaced work in agriculture and grazing livestock, in addition to beekeeping."

He pointed out that "about 350 farms have turned into a barren desert.”

“We couldn’t reach them as a result of landmines and unexploded ordnance remnants of war,” he added.

- Children separated from families

Nayef Hadi Muhammad, 12, has been living away from his parents and sisters for the fifth year.

His grandfather, Muhammad Abkar, 72, told Anadolu: "My grandson suffers from loneliness, depression, and a deterioration in his mental health.”

Abkar stated that “the violent battles that took place between the two sides of the conflict in late March 2019 in the village of Bani Hasan, north of Hajjah, caused displaced families to flee and disperse again, including Nayef's family.”

Since then, Nayef has been staying with his grandfather in a dilapidated hut.

Nayef‘s family, however, lives in a camp in the Abs district, which is under the control of the Houthis.

Nayef’s grandfather hopes that the war will end and the family will be reunited.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi​​​​​​​