Many migrants from East Africa choose a route that is less known, cheaper and even more dangerous than the Mediterranean: They cross the Gulf of Aden and land in war-torn Yemen. Many were unaware of the conflict.
Many Somali refugees have decided to return home from Yemen because of the worsening security situation, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR reports. Last week, 125 refugees boarded a ship to return to Somalia.
Over the past year, Saudi authorities have reportedly arrested over 50,000 migrants without papers. Almost all of them hailed from Yemen or Ethiopia.
There have never been so many people on the move worldwide, and they must be guaranteed healthcare, says the World Health Organization (WHO). This is why they just approved a five-year global action plan for migrant health.
The UN children's fund says acute malnutrition affects an estimated two million children in Afghanistan, and hundreds of thousands are at risk of death from its most severe form. Unicef says it urgently needs money to address the problem.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has launched a series of consultations to better protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) refugees. Consultations will take place over the next few months in different parts of the world.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said that last week it assisted in the voluntary repatriation of 222 Ethiopian migrants out of Yemen, with four flights from Sana'a to Addis Ababa. So far in 2019, the organization has helped 733 migrants voluntarily return from war-torn Yemen to their home countries.
Thousands of detained migrants, mostly Ethiopians, are facing serious health risks in Yemen. The UN is calling for the release of the detainees, including several hundred children. There are also concerns that some of the migrants are being forcibly recruited to fight in the civil war.
Yemeni authorities have detained over 2,000 irregular migrants in Aden, according to the UN migration agency IOM. The organization has expressed deep concern over the conditions in which they are being held.
University of the People is set to offer free online education for Arabic-speaking refugees who lack access to higher education. The initiative, which will also be run mainly by refugees, hopes to help students to create a better future for themselves and their communities.
In spite of the ongoing civil war, the number of migrants arriving in Yemen has increased significantly. The UN Migration Agency IOM is concerned that more and more migrants will find themselves exposed to violence and danger without any protection.
The International Organization for Migration facilitated the return of 418 migrants from Yemen with the first voluntary repatriation flight from the country in more than three years.