More than 80,000 people displaced as Yemen escalation deepens across the west coast

Escalating conflict on Yemen's west coast is driving repeated displacement and disrupting children's education as the new school year begins • Families flee multiple times as fighting spreads across the west coast, Taiz and beyond • Schools converted into shelters just as the school year begins, suspending children's education indefinitely • IRC calls for protection of civilians and sustained funding for the emergency response Aden, Yemen, September 14, 2026 — Over 80,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since fighting escalated between Ansar Allah and the Internationally Recognized Government earlier this month, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said today. The latest wave follows the fall of the strategic port city of Al Mokha, with many families fleeing for the second time in a matter of weeks. Families arriving in host areas report having had no time to grab their belongings, and many left their livestock and livelihoods behind. “Families in Yemen are being forced to run again and again, and their children are paying for it twice. Once with their safety, and again with their education,” said Caroline Sekyewa, IRC's Yemen Country Director. “Families are sheltering wherever they can find space, some with nothing over their heads at all.” The weight of this crisis is falling first on communities that already had few resources and were struggling even before the fighting reached them. Women, children and people with disabilities face heightened risks as displacement disrupts access to the services support and protection they rely on. This is happening at a time when humanitarian organizations are already stretched thin, and funding has not kept pace with growing needs. Schools are being converted into shelters just as the new school year should be starting, leaving children without classrooms at a critical point in their education. Many of these children have already been displaced at least once before, and this new disruption comes with no clear timeline for when they will be able to return to class. IRC is calling on all parties to the conflict to keep civilians safe, protect civilian infrastructure, and ensure that aid workers are able to reach people safely and without delay. Donors must also sustain and urgently increase funding so responders can keep pace with a crisis that continues to deepen. The IRC is expanding its response to the crisis. In Aden, that includes cash assistance for displaced families. Mobile health teams are also being deployed across Aden, Lahj, Al Dhale’e and Abyan to check on people's safety and refer them to further support. IRC continues to deliver health, nutrition and protection services in Abyan, Al Dhale'e, Lahj and Shabwah, working to reach newly displaced families even as ongoing access constraints make it more difficult to meet the full scale of needs.