Chasing terrorists, the housing crisis is forcing Yemenis to be at the front | Articles of Controversy

Taiz, Yemen Um Yousef knew that being on the front line in Taiz was dangerous. The area has been quiet for the past few years due to the lack of real estate war in Yemenbut it still lies between areas controlled by Yemeni government forces and Houthi rebels.

Destroyed buildings dot the front lines of the city, a testament to the brutal war that has lasted for more than a decade.

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But Um Yousef felt helpless. A single mother of four in her 40s, she couldn’t afford a three-bedroom house in central Yemen for about $130. Her husband died years ago while working abroad, so she was the sole breadwinner for the family in another country poverty has increased since the war started more than ten years ago.

“There is a huge need for housing, and all my efforts failed when I was living in the same room with my children,” recalls Um Yousef, who asked to use a pseudonym for security reasons. It was very difficult to be in the same room.

After eight months of traveling from one area to another, even exploring the outskirts of Taiz, he decided that his only option was a house near the front line. Yes, it was scary, but with so little money coming in, the house he got for about $13 a month couldn’t be ignored.

In January 2025, the couple moved. Two months later, her 11-year-old son came home from playing outside with blood coming from his mouth – he had been shot.

Sniper Threats

“I didn’t understand what happened – I didn’t hear the gunshots,” Um Yousef said.

They still don’t know what caused the shooting, but most of the casualties near the front line in Yemen are the result of sniper fire.

Taiz is particularly dangerous in this regard. The front line through the city is one of the few in the country in the city. The landscape of the city, with its hills and the mountain facing it, provides a perfect vantage point for shooters.

A United Nations monitoring project found that 66 percent of civilians killed by gunfire in Yemen last year were in Taiz. Of the 21 cases recorded, nine were children.

Fortunately, Um Yousef’s son’s injuries were not as serious as first feared. After being taken to the hospital, he received medical treatment and was released the next day.

This awakened Um Yusuf to find out where she had brought her children. But he can’t afford to move. Instead, he had no choice but to live and learn ways to reduce the risk.

“People living here take care of things that I don’t know, such as turning off the lights at night in rooms that are visible from a distance, and preventing children from playing in open spaces,” he explained. Instead they have to play in the backyard, I recognize these things now and follow them to keep my kids safe.

Damaged buildings

Taiz governorate is Yemen’s most populous, with about 4.5 million people and more than 400,000 refugees, according to Khalid Alwan, head of the local statistics office.

“More than 10,000 houses were completely or partially destroyed by the conflict in Taiz, and there are many more that we have not been able to count,” Alwan told Al Jazeera. “Rebuilding is expensive, and many people cannot afford to rebuild their homes even if they are in safe areas.

He added that while some humanitarian agencies have repaired partially damaged buildings in safe areas, these efforts have fallen short of the scale of the damage.

The Nahda Makers Organization (NMO) is one such group that is renovating houses in several Yemeni districts. To date, NMO has repaired 2,389 houses in Taiz, Lahj, Hodeidah, Aden and Abyan governorates – most of them in Taiz.

While the operation has helped some families return to safe havens, overall needs remain, with an estimated 4.8 million refugees across the country unable to return.

Living in a house

Mohammed Saeed has been living in the al-Thawrah area of ​​Taiz near the front line since 2023. He believes that the war has taken a toll on the people, and that rent money is one of its worst effects.

“I don’t like being here because we hear gunshots at night.” Even if we’re not there, just hearing it scares us,” the 53-year-old told Al Jazeera. “At first, my children couldn’t sleep when they heard gunshots, but now they’re used to it.

Mohammed, who is unemployed and unable to pay the rent, lives in a free house in exchange for guarding it. Because the area is close to the front, many people here do not pay rent.

“Today is calm, but if there is any threat, we will be in danger,” Mohammed said. I hope I can find a job that will help me rent a house in a safe place and leave this one.

Khalid Abdulhadi, 46, is one of the people who can afford to leave. He was born in al-Kamb area of ​​Taiz city and has a house there. However, he ran away from the fierce battle in 2018 and did not return, because the proximity of the front line makes it very safe.

“It’s not a good idea to go back and live in a dangerous place,” he told Al Jazeera. Even though I am paying rent while owning my own home, going back could cost me my life.

Khalid, who works as an accountant in a local company, said some of his neighbors came back and one of them lost his son, who was shot by a sniper.

He has let a family he knows live in his house for free, knowing that they are poor and willing to guard the place. But he has chosen to stay away.

He said: “I would rather live in a camp for refugee families than live in a dangerous house.”

“We have lost everything in this war; our lives are all we have left, so we must protect them.”