Life of the Displaced – Surviving the Ravages of War and Conflict!

Moving from one place to another in search of safety and security is the only way for inhabitants to survive the ravages of war and armed conflicts, leaving behind their possessions of land, homes, and large numbers of livestock. They settle in huge areas of land where camps are established. There they face many difficulties in the beginning. They just realize that they have no other place to go. Their homes, families, friends, entire villages are vanished and no longer exist. But the desire for life overcomes everything!

In Yemen, the unrelenting conflict has coerced more than four million people to flee their homes, which makes the country rank as the fourth largest internally displaced population worldwide. Clearly, the displaced families face increasingly dire living conditions. Food, clean water, shelter and sanitation are desperately insufficient, and an increasing number of children suffer from malnutrition and diseases like malaria, diphtheria, cholera and polio.

“As a displaced person, I go every day to collect empty bottles of water from the streets to sell at the end of the day and get five hundred Yemeni Rials or a little more to buy some food for my children. I also collect leftovers from restaurants to feed them as well. This is how I usually spend my day, fighting to keep my kids alive”. Amal, a thirty five-year-old mother, stated.

In Bajil, Amal’s family is a living example that depicts the human tragedy of thousands of forcibly displaced families who wanted to protect their children due to the escalating clashes in mid-January, 2021 in southern areas of Al-Hudaydah governorate. She displaced with her six children – 4 sons, 2 daughters – to Al-Zalam (the darkness) camp for IDPs in Bajil district. Unfortunately, the camp lacks the basic necessities of living which aggravates the situation a lot more, especially for her newborn twins whose lives are at greater risk of malnutrition and life-threatening diseases.