The displaced are experiencing the brutality of winter.
English - Sunday 11 December 2022 الساعة 03:16 pm
Gubran Alsoufi, NewsYemen:
The sky was full of clouds, and then suddenly a heavy rain washed away our shelters. Everything we owned - personal documents, blankets and food - was completely destroyed."
In these terms, Fatima, who is the only breadwinner for her five children, described the situation in Al-Munaij camp for the displaced in Taiz governorate, southwest of Yemen. The head of the family had fled with her children to the camp in search of safety when fighting broke out near their village in early January.
"We left everything behind. I had nothing with me that could provide the most basic necessities of life, such as food or medicine," Fatima recalled the painful journey.
But on top of being uprooted from their homes and deprived of their possessions, the precarious situation of the family members soon dealt another blow. They were among the tens of thousands already displaced by the conflict in Yemen who have lost their homes and remaining properties now due to heavy rains battering large swathes of the country.
Since April, flash floods have destroyed critical infrastructure including roads, water sources and healthcare centres. It is estimated that more than half of the more than 350,000 people affected by this emergency are women and girls, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times and are in a vulnerable physical and psychological condition.
Eman, 28, from western Al Hudaydah Governorate, received an aid package after rain caused the roof of the abandoned house where she was sheltering from violence with her family to fall off.
"I had no choice but to sell my precious sewing machine to help us pay for transportation," Eman said. "It was a difficult moment. I lost my only source of livelihood."
"I had to decide whether to provide food for my family or spend this money to prevent the rain from flooding our house," Mohammed explained.
The International Organization for Migration intervened to reduce the suffering of these displaced people and sheltered them under a roof that would protect them from the cold and rain. However, they will continue to taste this suffering for an unknown time.
