More than 2,000 fled Yemen fighting to Djibouti, UN says

More than 2,000 people have landed in Djibouti this week after fleeing an uptick in fighting between Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi fighters and the Saudi-backed government, the United Nations said on Sunday. Tens of thousands have taken flight since the Houthis captured the remainder of Yemen's Red Sea coast.

How many people have fled Yemen to Djibouti?

More than 2,000 people fleeing hostilities in Yemen have reached Djibouti's shores this week, according to the International Organization for Migration. The first arrivals landed on Thursday evening, and the figure has grown quickly from roughly 1,400 people reported by Djibouti's government just a day earlier.

Why are people fleeing Yemen for Djibouti?

A week-long Houthi offensive culminated in the group capturing the rest of Yemen's Red Sea coast and several strategic islands, cementing its hold on the Bab al-Mandab Strait. On Thursday, Houthi forces took control of the Red Sea port city of Mocha, a key waypoint for ships travelling between Europe and Asia.

Djibouti's minister of economy and finance, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, put the number of arrivals at about 1,400 people on Saturday, a day before the UN's updated count. Djibouti lies opposite Yemen across the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which has become a vital route for Saudi Arabian oil exports since Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz at the start of the Middle East war.

What is the scale of displacement inside Yemen?

At least 76,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen by the fighting since July, according to the UN, with that number quadrupling in the past week alone because of the Houthi offensive. Djibouti, among Africa's least populous nations with around a million inhabitants, is also a favored transit point for migrants hoping to reach the oil-rich Gulf states.

Across its 23,000 square kilometers, Djibouti hosts military bases from the United States, China, Japan, France and Italy, all keeping a close watch on the Bab al-Mandab Strait.