Taiz governorate in southern Yemen received more than 83,000 displaced people during September, representing over 11,000 families, in a new wave of displacement that has intensified pressure on public services and deteriorating infrastructure, amid rising living costs and limited resources for local institutions.
Correspondent Hadeel al-Yamani reported, citing the displaced persons camp administration, that the governorate received these numbers during the current month. Data from the government’s Executive Unit for Displaced Persons Camp Management also indicate that more than 11,000 families, comprising over 83,000 people, arrived in Taiz as a result of the latest military escalation.
Deteriorating services increase the burden on displaced people
Residents of the governorate and those displaced there face shortages of basic services, while service institutions struggle to deal with the growing numbers using limited resources and budgets. This comes amid dilapidated infrastructure that has not recovered from years of war and fighting, with key sectors requiring extensive rehabilitation.
A local official said waves of displacement had significantly affected the governorate’s resources and capacity to accommodate people. The official called on international and regional organisations to intervene urgently to meet displaced people’s needs, particularly for shelter, food, medicine and education. The story of Ilham, who was displaced from Yemen’s northern Amran governorate, illustrates some of the economic circumstances facing families arriving in Taiz.
Ilham tackles the rising cost of living with home-based work
She was forced to flee with her family because of the war five years ago and made the city her refuge, but was unable to find work that would provide the family with a stable income. Although Ilham holds a university degree in medical laboratory sciences, she found no source of income sufficient to cover her family’s needs. She became the sole breadwinner after her eldest son, aged 15, stopped working because his academic performance had declined.
Ilham currently makes and sells incense to provide basic necessities, including food and housing rent, amid continuously rising living costs. She says life in Taiz has become difficult because of food shortages, the deteriorating exchange rate and gas and water crises, as well as the difficulty of securing monthly rent.
Water and energy add new costs
In the water sector, the breakdown of distribution networks has forced residents to rely on water tankers, which charge them high fees. Many residents also depend on solar power amid electricity cuts, adding further burdens to their living conditions.
The crisis facing displaced people is worsening because of a shortage of housing, rising rents and insufficient flats, homes and shelters. Families are being forced to share cramped accommodation that is unsuitable for the number of residents, while the need for additional places to receive new arrivals continues. An activist and a local official said some flats accommodate six or seven families in the same place.
He explained that this phenomenon had begun to decline to a limited extent, but remained present because of the weakness and high cost of the housing sector and the absence of homes or shelters capable of accommodating the growing number of displaced people. As the influx of people continues, pressure is mounting on the local authority and government institutions, which operate with limited budgets and modest capabilities.
Overcrowding puts pressure on public facilities and services
Growing overcrowding is placing additional burdens on water and energy networks and educational and health facilities, at a time when local authorities’ ability to expand their services is declining. An analyst and a local official said the international community continued to treat the Yemen file as an emergency, which meant that most interventions remained temporary relief efforts.
He added that security fragility was hindering the implementation of long-term projects, and that continuing security and military fluctuations and the war were preventing the construction of sustainable projects amid unstable conditions.
United Nations reports indicate that residents of Taiz and displaced people living there face high levels of poverty, with growing risks of sliding into hunger and food shortages. This coincides with changes in the city’s demographic makeup and declining levels of humanitarian support, while the need grows for services, housing and aid capable of keeping pace with the new arrivals.
