Nearly two years of conflict and displacement
have devastated Yemen, pushing the country
toward social, economic and institutional
collapse.29 Nearly 90 per cent of IDPs in Yemen
have been displaced for more than 10 months,
with scarce resources dwindling and humanitarian needs rising sharply in all sectors. 30 At the
same time, more than a million people provisionally returned to their areas of origin, but the
sustainability of their return is highly questionable. Nearly 70 per cent of returnees are in Aden,
Sana’a or Taiz, where more than 85 per cent
were reported to be living in their original homes.
Substantial numbers were living in damaged
buildings and faced serious protection risks.31
Under-reported:
displacement by generalised
violence
Disaggregating new displacements associated
with conflict and violence recorded in 2016
reveals that 88 per cent were triggered by active
armed conflicts, six per cent by criminal violence,
five per cent by political violence and one per
cent by communal violence (see figure 1.7).
People fled generalised violence in a number
of forms, from gang violence in central America
(see spotlight, p.22) to post-electoral violence in
Burundi and Burkina Faso. Their movements are
not however systematically monitored worldwide.
This “unseen” flight has widespread repercussions
for individuals and societies. Only the existence
of an international or non-international armed
conflict triggers the application of international
humanitarian law (IHL), also known as the law
of armed conflict.44 In practical terms, IHL sets
limits on how the parties may conduct hostilities
and protects all persons affected by the conflict,
including humanitarian agencies responding to
its effects. This means that although the consequences of generalised violence can be as devastating and deadly to the civilian population as
those of an armed conflict, there is no special
protection provided by IHL.45
There is far less information on people who flee
criminal violence than on those displaced by
conflict, and an even weaker response to their
plight. Given the high rates of urban violence
and homicide in some of the world’s major cities,
many more people are probably displaced globally by this type of violence than the current data
reflects.47
Figure 1.7: New displacement by conflict and violence in 2016, disaggregated by conflict type
Dem. Rep. Congo
Syria
Iraq
Afghanistan
Nigeria
Yemen
India
ARMED CONFLICT
VIOLENCE - CRIMINAL
VIOLENCE - POLITICAL
VIOLENCE - COMMUNAL
OTHER
Source: IDMC
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Philippines
El Salvador
Turkey
Colombia
Niger
Libya
Somalia
Ukraine
Sudan
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Myanmar
Congo
Mexico
Uganda
Burundi
Honduras
Mozambique
Mali
Guatemala
Algeria
Pakistan
Palestine
Burkina Faso
Indonesia
Papua New Guinea
Lebanon
ON THE GRID: Global internal displacement in 2016
21