Aden (South24 Center)

A fire broke out at noon on Tuesday (January 13), in an African refugee camp in the Sahda area of Qa’atabah district, north of Dhalea in South Yemen, resulting in damage to the refugees' tents, with no human casualties recorded so far, according to the South24 correspondent.

Footage circulated by South24 Center showed flames rising from the tents of the camp located in the Sahda area, while no confirmed information was available regarding human casualties at the time of writing this report.

According to a report issued by the Executive Unit for the Management of IDP Camps, seen by South24, 18 tents were completely gutted in the fire at West Sahda (A) camp for Somali refugees, affecting 18 families comprising 108 individuals.

The report stated that all food and non-food items, as well as the families' belongings, were completely damaged, forcing the affected families to sit in the open.

#BREAKING

Video: A massive fire broke out in an African refugee camp in the Sahda area of Qa'atabah district, Dhalea, today, Tuesday #south24 pic.twitter.com/7Wa3UxmcTG

— South24 | English (@South24E) January 13, 2026

 It noted that the Executive Unit teams conducted a field visit to Qa’atabah district to monitor and document the damage, filing an initial report on the affected people in the camp, in addition to preparing detailed reports on the extent of their losses and needs to be submitted to the relevant authorities and humanitarian organizations working in the field.

In this context, the head of the Executive Unit for IDPs, Najib Al-Saadi, said in a statement to South24 that the issue of refugees and irregular migrants suffers from the absence of a specialized government body responsible for following it up. 

He added that some migrants, including Somalis, are considered refugees, but there is no clear official umbrella to deal with their situation.

He explained that the Executive Unit is specialized only in internally displaced persons (IDPs) and sometimes covers part of the existing void in this file, despite its lack of legal support that would allow it to deal with refugees and irregular migrant issues. 

Al-Saadi called for one of two options to address the situation: either officially assigning the file to the Executive Unit, or establishing an independent executive body to collect data on refugees and migrants and monitoring their movements.

He warned that the movements of irregular migrants have become a threat to Yemen and social peace, given their entry into the country without knowledge of their identities, which opens the door to the likelihood of involvement in various crimes and threatens the security and stability of society.

The governorates of South Yemen, including Aden, Lahj, and Dhalea, host a number of African refugee camps, including the Kharaz camp in Lahj, the largest camp for Somali refugees in Yemen.