A man walks through a male dormitory at an International Organization for Migration transit centre for migrants in Obock, Djibouti [File: Luke Dray/Getty Images]
Some 1,400 people crossed from Yemen to Djibouti within 24 hours, according to Djibouti’s economy and finance minister, as Houthi fighters tightened their hold over the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.
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Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh announced the arrivals in a post on X on Saturday, writing: “1,400 refugees arrived in Djibouti from Yemen in just 24 hours.”
In a separate post on Friday, Dawaleh said 500 refugees, including women and children, had reached the coastal city of Obock after being rescued at sea. Their boats had run out of fuel while attempting to cross the Bab-el-Mandeb strait.
Located only about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Yemen across the water, Obock has for years served as a key destination for people escaping Yemen’s war. The strait is also a major route in the opposite direction, used by migrants from the Horn of Africa travelling through Yemen towards Gulf countries.
Safiya Ibrahim, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) humanitarian response coordinator, told AFP that “vulnerable groups such as women and children have reached the shores of Obock, with more expected in the coming days”.
The IOM said on Saturday that fighting in Yemen had displaced 76,000 people since July. That total, it said, quadrupled after hostilities escalated again.
Djibouti already shelters tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers. Figures from the United Nations Refugee Agency for March 2026 put the registered population at more than 36,000, most of them from Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen.
The Houthis captured the Red Sea port city of Mocha on Thursday before advancing across the coastline and islands around the Bab al-Mandeb strait. The swift offensive has driven thousands of families from their homes, reportedly leaving entire villages deserted in districts including Maqbanah, Jabal Habashi and al-Maafer.
