Yemen - Flow Monitoring Registry | Non-Yemeni Migrant Arrivals and Yemeni Migrant Returnees in August 2024

OVERVIEW: The Flow Monitoring Registry (FMR) of the IOM Yemen Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) monitors the arrival of migrants along Yemen’s southern coastal border and the return of Yemeni nationals along its northern border with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to identify migration patterns and provide quantitative estimates of the irregular migrant population entering the country. It’s crucial to understand that the FMR does not capture all migration flows as demonstrated by departures to Yemen captured by IOM DTM Djibouti to areas along the West Coast of Yemen which have remained inaccessible for assessments. Instead, it provides indicative insights into migration trends based on a known total number of migrants arriving along monitored coast and land borders during the reporting period.

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS: In August 2024, the IOM Yemen DTM tracked 1,631 migrants entering Yemen, a 21 per cent increase from the total figure reported in the previous month (1,345 migrants). All migrants (100%) left from Bari Region in Somalia.
Among the total migrants recorded, 16 per cent were children, 24 per cent were women, and 60 per cent were men.

Typically, Lahj serves as an entry point for migrants departing through Djibouti whereas Shabwah serves as an entry point for migrants departing through Somalia. During this reporting period, all recorded departed from Somalia to the coastal area of Shabwah Governorate. During the same period, no migrants departing from Djibouti to Lahj were tracked by IOM, likely due to measures taken by the government to combat smuggling. Since those measures were implemented, starting August 2023, the flow of migrants along this route has been nearly absent in the months that followed, with one exception in December 2023 when a boat brought 110 migrants to shore.

The DTM team identified 4,113 Yemeni returnees in August 2024, a one per cent decrease compared to the number of returnees in July (4,172 individuals). Additionally, the team recorded a total of 143 migrants that were deported from Oman back to Deifen Point in Shahan district of Al Maharah Governorate, Yemen. All deported migrants were Ethiopian nationals.

While the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen has compelled some migrants to make the difficult decision to return to their home countries in the Horn of Africa, others have reportedly been returned by government authorities. In August 2024, DTM recorded a total of 971 migrants leaving Yemen either voluntarily or returned by boat from Yemen. This group was composed of 89 per cent men, nine per cent women, and two per cent children.
Furthermore, in August 2024, the Djibouti DTM team reported a total of 893 migrants (93% men, 6% women, and 1% children) arrived in Djibouti from Yemen. These figures underscore the significant challenges migrants in Yemen face and the desperate circumstances that have led them to risk dangerous sea voyages.