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In Yemen, thousands of Ethiopian migrants stranded, COVID-19 likely widespread: IOM
Tens of thousands of Ethiopian migrants have been stranded in war-ravaged Yemen where they continue to be subjected to arbitrary detention and exposure to COVID-19 infection, forcible relocation and abuse, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
The alert from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) follows reports on Monday that an airstrike in north-west Hajjah Governorate killed seven children and two women.
Condemning the development, the UN’s Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, Lise Grande, said in a statement that it was “incomprehensible that in the middle of the COVID pandemic, when options for a ceasefire are on the table, civilians continue being killed in Yemen”.
The country has long been a stepping stone for migrants seeking work in the oil-rich Arabian States to the north of Yemen.
But landing points across from the Horn of Africa have become increasingly dangerous since conflict escalated in March 2015 between the forces of President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi - supported by a Saudi-led international coalition – and mainly Houthi militia, for control of the Arab nation.
Today, widely described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, fears that COVID-19 has already gained a strong foothold in Yemen have been compounded by a potential famine alert last week from the World Food Programme (WFP), as some 10 million people face acute food shortages.
“For nearly six years, Yemen has been an extremely unsafe place to be a migrant,” said IOM spokesperson Paul Dillon. “COVID-19 has made this situation worse; migrants are scapegoated as carriers of the virus and as a result, suffer exclusion and violence. In addition to the forced removals, fears about COVID-19 have led to migrants in Yemen experiencing verbal and physical harassment, increased detention and movement restrictions.”
COVID-19 restrictions have reduced the number of migrant arrivals in Yemen by 90 per cent in recent months, while also leaving tens of thousands of Ethiopians in limbo, according to IOM.
“Transportation through the country has been blocked and at least 14,500 migrants have been forcibly transferred between governorates,” it said in a statement, with at least 4,000 people stranded in Aden, 2,500 in Marib, 1,000 in Lahj and 7,000 in Sa’ada governorates.
In 2019, an average of 11,500 per month arrived in Yemen from the East African ports, according to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, in search of work in Saudi Arabia.
In May 2019, 18,904 people made the crossing, while this year, only 1,725 arrivals were recorded.
Although more than 1,460 cases of new coronavirus infection and 418 deaths have been reported in Yemen, the IOM official noted that the agency “and the broader humanitarian community in Yemen are working under the assumption that the virus is widespread”.
With “most” migrants sleeping outdoors “or in unsafe abandoned buildings”, they are at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19, Mr. Dillon continued.
“They have little access to basic services like food, clean water or health care, a worrying situation given how pervasive the virus is believed to be in Yemen.”
In an appeal for continued access for humanitarians throughout the country, the IOM official highlighted grave concerns about virus transmission in places where migrants are being held.
“Prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in Yemen and elsewhere, we know that many of these - many of these detention centres - are not particularly sanitary,” Mr. Dillon said. “There’s no access to some of the basics that one would need to address public health concerns such as COVID-19.”
Last year, IOM reached nearly 60,000 migrants in Yemen with shelter support, health care, voluntary return assistance and psychosocial support.
According to Ms. Grande’s Office, nearly 1,000 civilian conflict-related casualties have been reported in Yemen in the first six months of 2020.
“Yemen can’t take much more,” she said. “There isn’t enough funding, health and water programmes are shutting, famine is stalking the country again, and people all across the country are being hit hard by COVID.”
At a pledging event in Riyadh on 2 June, donors pledged only $1.35 billion of the $2.41 billion requested to cover essential humanitarian activities until the year end, leaving a gap of more than $1 billion.
Since mid-April, 31 of 41 of critical UN programmes have been reducing or closing down for lack of funding, Ms. Grande’s Office said.
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, sunny, flags fluttering.
- Wide shot: UN Geneva Press room III, empty apart from a few scattered journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Paul Dillon, spokesperson, IOM: “For nearly six years, Yemen has been an extremely unsafe place to be a migrant. COVID-19 has made this situation worse; migrants are scapegoated as carriers of the virus and as a result, suffer exclusion and violence. In addition to the forced removals, fears about COVID-19 have led to migrants in Yemen experiencing verbal and physical harassment, increased detention and movement restrictions.”
- Medium shot, journalists and spokespersons sitting in Press room III, looking at podium speaker in rear of shot and checking mobile phone or reading.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Paul Dillon, spokesperson, IOM: “Over 1,460 cases of the virus and 418 deaths have been reported, however IOM and the broader humanitarian community in Yemen are working under the assumption that the virus is widespread.”
- Close-up, Press room III, journalist’s hands typing on laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Paul Dillon, spokesperson, IOM: “We have some serious concerns, some grave concerns, about conditions within the detention centres for example. Prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in Yemen and elsewhere, we know that many of these - many of these detention centres are not particularly sanitary, there’s no access to some of the basics that one would need to address public health concerns such as COVID-19.”
- Wide shot: Press room III, chairs tilted forwards as part of COVID-19 social distancing measures, podium speaker to rear of shot.
- Medium shot, journalist sitting with arms folded in front of laptop, spokesperson behind.
- Medium shot, journalist looking at podium (out of shot), seated, spokesperson behind with facemask hanging loose around face and hearing device.
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As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
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