This is not her first time experiencing displacement, she was also displaced 11 years ago in the 2015 war.
These are her words:
“Two weeks ago, I fled Taiz – this was as soon as the clashes began. I could already see 2015’s war starting all over again, when people went hungry, were under siege and would wish for a clean sip of water. We were worried the streets connecting Taiz and Aden would close, this is why we decided to escape to the same area we fled to in 2015 [when war broke out in Taiz governorate].
Eventually, the conflict did get to the area we were sheltering in, and it lies between Taiz and Aden. As soon as we [my family and I] decided to flee, I started looking for valuable things to pack, then I realised I couldn’t carry much, and I ended up taking my documents and certifications. It was not easy to convince my mother to leave, all she kept saying was: ‘This is my house!’ and I comforted her by responding: ‘God willing, we will be back.’
We stayed there for two weeks, we could hear the planes and airstrikes, it was around an hour away from us. Every day, I would open my window and see children at school, singing and studying, and I wondered if this was the last peaceful day here, or if death was coming. And indeed, that day came, and we were forced to flee again and leave everything behind, this time to Aden. I was on edge until the car arrived to take us to Aden - the situation could not afford even a day’s delay, as the remaining routes between Aden and Taiz were hanging in the balance [as closures and strikes were taking place].
I said goodbye to my grandmother [who couldn’t flee with us], praying silently that this wouldn't be the last time I held her - hoping I would return safe and sound, and that she and the rest of my family would be well.
I am in constant contact with my family who stayed in Taiz - they are in a state of panic. The children there are exposed to sounds of shelling and war for the very first time, just imagine what they are going through. Fleeing can be dangerous for people living there.
At first, parents in Taiz were unable to explain the situation to their young children [who have never experienced war], some would try to comfort them by describing far away shelling sounds as ‘celebrations or weddings’.
It is a terrible feeling to wait for death while inside your own home, listening as the clashes draw closer, feeling as though your own end is approaching. It is truly unbearable for me [as an adult] – imagine what children are going through.”
