Yemen Aid Cuts and Currency Collapse Worsen Conditions in Seiyun IDP Camps

Aid reductions and a prolonged economic crisis have left residents of the Maryamah internally displaced persons camp in Seiyun, Yemen, facing acute shortages of food and medicine. The camp, located in Wadi Hadramout province, houses about 4,899 displaced households.

Four years of funding cuts have sharply reduced supplies that once arrived more regularly from international agencies. Ali Sagher Shareem, 51, arrived from Hodeidah two years ago. He told Al Jazeera that his family has received no aid since settling in the camp.

Shareem and his wife and three children live in a tarpaulin shelter without windows. Summer temperatures average 40 degrees Celsius, and frequent power outages leave the structures without cooling. His wife requires regular hospital visits. Shareem said he often cannot afford prescribed medicines or diagnostic tests.

Mohammed Mohammed Yahya, 80, who arrived from Hajjah province six years ago, described similar conditions. He cuts trees inside the camp and sells the wood to purchase basic food items.

Nearby residents also report declining incomes.

A janitor identified only as Salah said his monthly salary equals about $33 and that aid agencies direct assistance only to displaced families. Retired teacher Khaled Hassan said his pension has fallen from $370 to $85 per month because of inflation, forcing him to drive a tuk-tuk to supplement earnings.

A Yemeni government body reported that more than 10,000 displaced households live across Wadi Hadramout, including 4,823 households, or 38,487 people, in Seiyun alone. Nadia Saif al-Fakhiri, an official monitoring government-run camps in Hadramout, told Al Jazeera that many families manage only two meals a day and face psychological strain.