According to a U.N. refugee official, fighting in Yemen has displaced about 300,000 Yemenis as well as 200,000 refugees in the country from the Horn of Africa region. Fighting between a powerful tribal group and forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh has killed more than 200 in the past two weeks in Sanaa and caused thousands to flee the capital. According to the U.N., Yemen will need $224 million in 2011 for humanitarian aid that will improve food, health, water and sanitation for women and children. [Reuters]
Refugees from the Syrian border town of Jisr Al-Shugur say tens of thousands of residents have fled to Turkey over the last week. The Syrian government claims more than 80 security forces were killed in an ambush by “armed groups” in Jisr Al-Shugur. But residents of the blood-soaked town say fighting broke out between mutinying Syrian soldiers, after Syrian troops opened fire on anti-government demonstrators at the funeral of a slain protester. [CNN]
According to a new study from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center of the Norwegian Refugee Council, more than 42 million people around the world were displaced by sudden natural disasters in 2010. Asia has been consistently the most affected continent. [Voice of America] In related news, during the Nansen Conference on Climate Change and Displacement in the 21st Century, UNHCR officials urged countries to adopt new measures to cope with climate-induced displacement within and across borders. According to officials, such a framework should contain arrangements for temporary or interim protection for people who flee natural disasters. [UNHCR]