The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the migration agency of the United Nations, announced on Monday that more than 3,200 African migrants stranded in Yemen have returned home safely through its Voluntary Humanitarian Return program this year. Among them were 254 unaccompanied children. The migrants left from Sanaa, Aden, and Seiyun on flights facilitated by the IOM. The organization has called for more financial support to help around 200,000 African migrants, including 43,000 migrants in urgent need, to return to their home countries.
Despite years of civil war, Yemen continues to be a transit country for tens of thousands of migrants from the Horn of Africa to Saudi Arabia. However, migrants in Yemen face challenging living conditions and lack proper shelter or services. The IOM has worked with local authorities and international partners to provide assistance to stranded migrants in Yemen.
Yemen has been in a civil war since late 2014 when the Houthi militia, backed by Iran, took control of several northern provinces, resulting in the Saudi-backed government being forced out of the capital, Sanaa.