Durable Solutions: IOM Yemen IDP Intention Survey [Ad Dali, Aden, Al Hodeidah, Ma’rib and Ta’iz]

In March 2023, the people of Yemen entered their ninth year of conflict since its escalation in 2015. The conflict has pushed the country to the edge of catastrophe – displacing millions from their homes and dramatically increasing levels of hunger and desperation. The country continues to experience public discontent over inadequate services, worsening living conditions, currency devaluation, insecurity, and criminality.

IOM DTM interviewed 13,307 out of a total of 73,304 displaced households living across the 193 accessed sites. In our effort to understand the circumstances and needs of displaced households, we conducted an extensive survey that involved reaching out to 13,307 households. These households were selected from a total population of 73,304 households that have been affected by displacement. Three-quarters of respondents reported a current intention to remain at their current locations (74.5%) at the time of interview while 13.0 per cent had not yet decided. Out of 12.2 per cent of households with an intention to return to locations of origin, the majority had no intentions to do so within the six months following the interview. Some 2.5 per cent of all interviewed households had intentions to return to locations of origin and to do so within six months. Please note that these ambitions seldomly translate into actual population movements. The findings serve to highlight current perceptions and the overall mood prevailing among displaced populations with regards to potential return. The largest proportion of households intending to return were found in Ta’iz (43.0% compared to an average of 14.2% across other governorates). Most other households in Ta’iz intended to remain (53.8%).

The majority of respondents intending to remain at current sites of displacement cited insecurity at places of origin as main reason for the decision (77.6%). The largest proportion of households intending to remain were found in Al Hodeidah (97.2%) and Ma’rib (86.1%). While insecurity at locations of origin played the most important role for households in Ma’rib (88.3%) families in Al Hodeidah frequently added livelihood concerns (21.2%) to the insecurity at locations of origin factor (64.0%). The presence of landmines as a separate reason to insecurity was the main concern for a further 9.9 per cent of Al Hodeidah households.