Yemen

Overview

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has had a presence in Yemen since 1994. IOM supports vulnerable groups throughout Yemen, including displaced people, conflict-affected communities and migrants. 

The Organization has well-established offices in Sana’a, Aden, Ma’rib and Al Makha in the west coast region.  

Now in its eighth year of conflict, Yemen continues to face one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises. Rising humanitarian needs are driven by conflict, disease, a declining economy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the breakdown of public institutions and services.  

The severity of suffering is expected to worsen across the country in 2022, particularly for the country’s 4.3 million internally displaced persons. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix reported that nearly 160,000 people were displaced in 2021 alone, as hostilities escalated in Ma’rib and areas along Yemen’s west coast.  

Despite the current crisis, migrants continue to arrive in Yemen by boat from the Horn of Africa. Most intend to reach the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to find work. IOM estimates that more than 190,000 migrants are in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Tens of thousands have become stranded in Yemen and experience abuse and exploitation on their journeys. 

Last year, IOM’s lifesaving operations reached more than 7.5 million people with health care, clean water, safe sanitation, shelter, displacement camp management and protection support. This includes more than 780,000 people who benefited from the rehabilitation of schools, hospitals and water points.

Head Office

Haddah Post Office Area
Haddah Zone
P.O. Box 16335
Sana'a

Tel: +967 1 410 568
Fax: + 967 1 412 251

Migration Activities

Movement, Emergency and Post-crisis Migration Management

Description / Donors	IOM Yemen aims to protect and assist migrants, internally displaced people (IDPs) and crisis-affected populations through provision of temporary shelters, water, sanitation and hygiene services, non-food items, medical and psychosocial support, protection and information, and voluntary repatriations. In 2018, over 5.9 million people received assistance from IOM through multiple forms of humanitarian and migrant support.   Through Migrant Response Points (MRPs), IOM provides migrants with registration, psychosocial support, provision of basic humanitarian assistance packages and referral to health services. Migrant emergency units (MEUs), which consist of health and protection staff, identify at-risk communities and provide assistance. WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) teams provide emergency, temporary latrines and installation of solar-powered water pumps to ensure clean drinking water and sanitation is available, therefore reducing the likelihood of water-borne disease outbreaks.   During emergency situations, IOM provides basic humanitarian assistance to crisis-affected people in the form of temporary WASH services, mobile health teams, non-food items, temporary shelters and more which aim to curb disease outbreak, ensure the dignity and safety of vulnerable populations and uphold fundamental human rights.   IOM’s Transition and Recovery Division is enhancing the resilience of vulnerable communities in Yemen, including migrants and IDPs, through rehabilitation of schools in Lahj governate and capacity building for associated teaching staff and education boards. Through coordination with the education cluster and communities, this project will support the existing community in addition to 6000 IDP students in Lahj - further supporting the stabilization of the community as IDPs return to/settle in the area. Furthermore, in Lahj and Dhamar governates, through engagement of a broad range of stakeholders in in-depth needs assessments, community needs for recovery will be addressed, therefore supporting the management and reintegration of mobile and IDP populations.
Project 1	Enhancing Resilience in Vulnerable Communities in Yemen
Project 2	Reintegration Assistance to Returnee and Host Communities in Lahj a Governorate of High Return
Project 3	Strengthening the Role of Women in Peace Building through Natural Resources Management at the Community Level in the Rural Areas of the Governorates of Sana’a and Lahj in Yemen

Migration Health

Description / Donors	IOM Yemen delivers emergency healthcare assistance to both Yemeni communities and migrants affected by conflict, displacement and forced migration in Abyan, Alhudaydah, Al-Jawf, Aden, Hajjah, Lahj, Shabwah, Taizz and Sana’a governorates.  Through its Minimum Service Package (MSP) project, funded by WHO, IOM Yemen responds to the lifesaving and long-term health needs of these populations. Through a comprehensive approach, including direct provision of medical services, IOM; facilitates access to health services for vulnerable communities (IDPs, host communities and migrants), capacity building; advocacy; assessments and awareness campaigns.   IOM also manages a health clinic in the Immigration, Passport and Naturalization Authority (IPNA) in Yemen’s capital city Sana’a, and another clinic in Aden, located in Aden’s impoverished neighborhood of Basateen where large numbers of migrants are present. IOM’s health unit supports 104 healthcare centres, including hospitals, primary health care centres, IDP clinics, and 6 Cholera Treatment Centres. During the current Cholera outbreak (1 January 2018 to April 2019), health partners in Yemen have screened and treated over 220,000 people with suspected Cholera.   IOM hosts the Yemen portion of programming for ‘The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria’ Middle East Response (MER) project, being implemented in 5 MER countries. The MER project, now in its second year of programming, aims to support in delivering essential HIV, TB and Malaria services in Challenging Operating Environments.   IOM operates three Migrant Response Points (Sana’a, Aden & Saa’da) supporting migrants with healthcare assessments post-arrival and in preparation for repatriation. Health Mobile teams regularly visit coastal regions of Yemen to locate and provide health, psychosocial support and protection services to newly arrived migrants and vulnerable communities.   IOM works with partners through inter-agency coordination for the enhancement of medical relief efforts while also building the capacity of Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population.
Project 1	Emergency health assistance to Yemeni populations through implementation of Minimum Service Package (MSP)
Project 2	Emergency health assistance to Yemeni populations
Project 3	Provide Needs based protection and Medical Assistance to the Yemeni Affected Populations, Returnees, and Migrants in Yemen

Migration and Development

Description / Donors	IOM Yemen provides technical advice, supports the development of national policies and legislation, and facilitates regional dialogue on issues concerning labor migration and the nexus between migration and development. IOM also conducts research on topics including the role of the Yemeni diaspora and labor mobility. Given its unique geographic position, Yemen is a receiving, transit and sending country for labour migrants. As such, IOM is a key partner in assisting the government of Yemen to promote safe labour and migration practices for Yemenis and third country nationals. IOM is also involved with assisting the government of Yemen with voluntary and dignified return of migrants to their countries of origin and the reintegration of Yemeni returnees. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s (KSA) domestic labour market restructuring efforts have resulted in massive returns of foreign migrant workers since 2013.   As part of resilience-building efforts, IOM has engaged in the rehabilitation and improvement of water networks in IDP sites (through solar-powered pumps), hospitals and other key public structures. Ongoing capacity building activities with key WASH and health authorities will improve the sustainability of these efforts. Furthermore, water sites in Hudaydah are acting as the focus in peacebuilding and social-cohesion activities in fractured, crisis-affected communities. The goal of this project is to reduce conflict over land and water and enhance social cohesion through rehabilitating shared water infrastructure, improving livelihoods and increasing the role of women and youth in natural resource management and conflict resolution. Reducing conflict over water resources should lead to increased access to water for irrigation, improved communal livelihoods and peace building among the communities.
Project 1	Enhance the self-reliance of Affected People through access to livelihood opportunities, economic recovery processes, community asset rehabilitation and reintegration of IDPs
Project 2	Life-Saving Assistance to IDPs and other conflict affected individuals in Yemen
Project 3	Integrated Emergency response Programme to improve the living conditions of the most vulnerable conflict-affected populations across Yemen.

Regulating Migration

Description/Donors	IOM Yemen regulates migration through prevention of abuse and exploitation of migrants, particularly at Migrant Response Points and destinations where they are often most vulnerable. IOM’s Rapid Response Mechanism (RRM) ensures primary screening and registration of migrants entering Yemen, providing referrals to healthcare, psychosocial support and case-by-case child protection, especially in the case of unaccompanied minors. Post-registration, migrants receive RRM kits (containing basic humanitarian items) and temporary shelter kits. Where follow-up is possible, the second stage of RRM sees multi-purpose cash transfers provided to migrant populations to support ongoing access to food, safe water and more permanent living conditions.    IOM is coordinating a multi-cluster & location survey which will provide an evidence base for the support provided to vulnerable populations and emergency situations. Monitoring of migrant movements throughout Yemen is conducted by IOM’s DTM unit through quarterly area assessments of 16,000 locations (where IDPs and migrants are present) and emergency tracking, which produces weekly updates on new displacements. DTM’s new alert system triggers assistance to communities where over 120 households experience displacement. For more information on DTM’s Yemen activities, see: www.displacement.iom.int/yemen   IOM provides Voluntary Humanitarian Repatriations to migrants and refugees who have become stranded in Yemen and wish to return to their country of origin or move to a third country. Pre-departure assistance (including paperwork and medical clearances), organization of transportation, and medical escorts are provided on all repatriations. IOM also ensures access to detention centres to provide assistance to detained migrants.
Project 1	Humanitarian Assistance to Vulnerable Migrants in Yemen
Project 2	Horn/Gulf of Aden Yemen: Improving Protection of Migrants Phase VIII - Ethiopia
Project 3	Provision of protection assistance including humanitarian evacuation for stranded Ethiopian migrants and assisted spontaneous returns for Somali refugees in Yemen

Facilitating Migration

Description / Donors	IOM’s Migrant Protection and Assistance unit ensures registration of migrants and multi-sector support at Migrant Response Points (MRPs) through collaboration with DTM. During this process, migrants are registered and screened, provided with referrals to healthcare and Mental Health and Psychosocial Services (MHPSS), and, where required, survivors of gender-based violence and (unaccompanied) children requiring protection receive case management support. Messaging on protection and healthcare, in addition to information on services and procedures, is given alongside humanitarian assistance packages. Migrant emergency units (a combination of protection and health units) monitor migration patterns post-MRP and respond to populations requiring ongoing support. Yemeni’s returning to Yemen from third countries are registered at border points and movements monitored.
Project 1	Integrated Protection for Vulnerable Migrants and Conflict-Affected Yemenis (IDPs) in Yemen
Project 2	Horn/Gulf of Aden Yemen: Improving Protection of Migrants Phase VIII - Ethiopia
Project 3	Fostering Health and protection to Vulnerable Migrants transitting through morocco, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen

Migration Policy and Research

Description / Donors	As the leading inter-governmental organization working with migrants and governments to respond to contemporary migration challenges, IOM assists the government of Yemen in embracing a holistic and long-term approach to managing migration flows. IOM Yemen continues to pursue the recommendations of the Sana'a Declaration, an outcome of the Regional Conference on Asylum and Migration held in Sana'a in November 2013.  This is aligned with of IOM’s primary strategic priorities which are to strengthen governmental capacity to monitor and manage migration flows through effective policy making, policy dialogue, information sharing and cooperation. IOM’s DTM unit ensures flow monitoring of migrants entering and leaving Yemen through six border points – five of which are on the southern coast. DTM staff stationed at border points register the details and demographics of migrant groups entering Yemen by land, sea and air, including the country of origin, departure and intended destination. The UN estimates that over 100,000 migrants entered Yemen in 2018 heading for Gulf countries.
Project 1	Displacement tracking to vulnerable migrants, IDPs and returnees in Yemen
Project 2	Enhancing Resilience in Vulnerable Communities in Yemen

Reparation Programmes

Description / Donors

As part of its global mandate on migration, IOM’s Land, Property and Reparations (LPR) Division under the Department of Operations and Emergencies (DOE) assists Governments to address severe human rights violations in the aftermath of natural disasters and protracted conflict situations giving technical support. in Yemen, LPR provides “Technical Assistance to the Southern Yemen Land Remedies Commission” in order to strengthen the Government of Yemen’s efforts to address the historically entrenched disfranchisement and dispossession of Southern Yemeni landholders.