ReportYemen Fighting Sends Children From Classrooms to WorkAired September 28, 2026 at 2:36 PM UTCWritten September 28, 2026 at 2:46 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:1113-year-old Munir Ferry sells socks outside a displacement camp instead of studying.0:16His family fled fighting in Yemen's Thais governorate, while the latest displacement0:19count across eight governorates has reached 145,308 people.0:24What do the figures tell us about children losing school and what remains unknown?0:27Munir and his brother sell socks and other cheap goods to help their families0:31survive in the camp.0:32Their father, Galeb Ferry, says he asked the boys to work because the family needs0:35the money.0:36Munir had hoped to become the first teacher in his farming family.0:39Before they fled their village in Al-Waziya district, he could hear explosions and0:43gunfire from his classroom.0:45Now work has taken the place of lessons for both brothers.0:47The family fled as fighting drew close to its village.0:51Renewed clashes between Houthi forces and Yemen's government-side forces have broken0:55a period of relative calm in the southwest and driven families into camps.0:59But the count of people uprooted reaches well beyond Thais.1:02It covers eight governorates affected by the West Coast escalation that began in1:06June.1:06The September 28 count is 15,870 people and 2,645 households1:12higher than the comparable count one week earlier.1:15That is a rise of more than 12% in the number of displaced people.1:18It shows displacement was still growing through September 28th.1:21It does not say all 145,308 people fled during September, or that they are all in1:27Taies.1:28There is no established count for Munier's camp.1:30Earlier figures describe earlier snapshots or different periods, not competing1:35totals for the same date.1:36A September 17 account used a then-current figure of 125,000.1:41A separate estimate released September 25 covered the preceding three weeks.1:45Nearly 130,000 people displaced, including about 71,000 children.1:50That three-week window cannot be substituted for the cumulative eight governorate1:54count since June.1:55And the roughly 71,000 children displaced cannot automatically be counted as2:00children who stopped attending school.2:02As reported September 15th, more than 137,000 school-aged children faced2:07major disruption to their education amid the renewed fighting.2:11Some children in TASE cannot reach classes.2:14others leave lessons to earn money.2:16But disruption is not the same as permanent dropout, and that figure does not tell2:20us how many children have begun working.2:22Munir and his brother are two specifically described cases, not a measure of child2:26labor across Yemen.2:27Schooling was already in crisis before this escalation.2:30An April Yemen-wide estimate put 3.2 million children out of school after years of2:35civil war had interrupted education.2:38The precise definition behind that older measure has not been independently2:41established.2:42It is not a count of children newly pushed out of class this September, and it must2:46not be added to the figure for children facing disruption from the new fighting.2:49Displacement brings other pressures alongside the loss of a classroom.2:53In TAS, blocked roads are disrupting travel and trade and making basic goods more2:57expensive.2:58That raises the cost of meeting immediate needs for families already forced from3:02home.3:02The specific roads affected how long they have been blocked and the size of the3:05price rises have not been established here.3:07The answer to how many newly displaced children have moved from school into work is3:11still unknown.3:12The education, disruption, and child displacement figures measure different things.3:16Neither provides that count.3:18For Munir and his brother, work has replaced study and there is no established date3:22when they can return to school or when their family can safely go home.Explore with HeyDexFollow via RSSThe shortThe short ↗Related coverageBackgroundSep 23 07:11 UTCOne Tank Burning by Riyadh Airport Tests Restraint