1,400 Yemenis flee to Djibouti within 24 hours

By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP. Published On 13 Sep 202613 Sep 2026.

Key points

• Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh wrote on X on Saturday: "1, 400 refugees arrived in Djibouti from Yemen in just 24 hours."
• The IOM cautioned on Friday that at least 46, 000 residents had been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week.
• The Houthis seized the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday and have since overrun the coastline and islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandeb strait.
• The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is additionally employed in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa.
• Djibouti hosts tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers.

As Houthi fighters tighten their grip on the Bab al-Mandeb strait, regarding 1, 400 residents have fled Yemen for Djibouti in a 24-hour period, Djibouti's economy and finance minister notes.

After they were rescued at sea when their boats ran out of fuel while crossing the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, in a separate post on Friday, the minister remarked that 500 refugees had arrived in the coastal city of Obock, including women and children.

Obock, a city only regarding 20 kilometres (12 miles) throughout the water from the Yemeni coast, has for a number of years been a preferred arrival point for those seeking refuge from war-torn Yemen. The Bab-el-Mandeb strait is additionally employed in the opposite direction by migrants from the Horn of Africa. This person transit through Yemen on their way to Gulf countries.

Safiya Ibrahim, humanitarian response coordinator for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), informed AFP that "vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days".

Meanwhile, the IOM cautioned on Friday that at least 46, 000 residents had been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated last week.

"Families are being forced to flee for the second or third time in this conflict, with almost nothing left, " Amy Pope, the IOM director general, remarked in an official note. "As fighting spreads, reaching individuals with lifesaving assistance is becoming harder. We urgently need safe, unimpeded access."

Djibouti hosts tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. United Nations Refugee Agency figures from March 2026 show a registered population of more than 36, 000, with the majority from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen.

Notably, the Houthis seized the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday and have since overrun the coastline and islands surrounding the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The rapid offensive has forced thousands of families to flee, with entire villages reportedly emptied in districts such as Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi and al-Maafer.

Taken together, the developments around 1, 400 Yemenis flee to Djibouti within 24 hours point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.