A/HRC/27/44 51. A legislative amendment to the nationality law of Yemen was introduced in 201022 allowing a child born to a Yemeni mother to gain Yemeni nationality when the father is a foreigner, unknown or when descent is not sure. However, it was not clear what the status of this law was and the degree to which it was being implemented. I. Refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons 52. While a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Yemen has not incorporated the Convention into national refugee-specific legislation or established a refugee status determination procedure. In the absence of such legislation, the legal status of asylum seekers and refugees has been governed by a mix of decrees and provisions, inter alia, Republican Decree No. 47/1991 on the entry and residence of foreigners. That gap in the legislation has led to different approaches, for example between nationals of Somalia and non-Somali individuals in need of international protection. In this regard, the Government accorded refugee status on a prima facie basis to Somali refugees, whereas the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducted refugee status determination for all other asylum seekers. 53. During the reporting period, Yemen dealt with a mixed flow of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants seeking safety, protection or economic opportunities. Transit centres and reception centres were fully managed by UNHCR and its implementing partners without an active role by the Government. Refugee women and children were particularly vulnerable as they were often kidnapped and held hostage by smugglers or traffickers. 54. As of July 2014, over 200 asylum seekers from Eritrea had been detained in Hodeida Detention Centre, some since 2011, allegedly for security reasons. In February 2014, as a result of UNHCR intervention, 161 Eritrean individuals were released and moved to Sana’a. 55. According to OCHA, during the last week of May 2014, heavy fighting between militants and government forces in Amran Governorate, northern Yemen, triggered the displacement of up to 20,000 people. It was unclear if some of those people included those who had been displaced in earlier clashes from October 2013 to March 2014. In the south of the country, another 20,000 people were displaced during military operations against AQAP, which began on 29 April 2014. The Deputy Governor in Shabwah reported to OCHA that 80 per cent of the displaced people in the Governorate had later returned home. The majority of the displaced in Abyan were also reported to be returning home. An unknown number continued to live in public facilities because their homes had been destroyed, and they needed humanitarian assistance.23 56. During the reporting period, hundreds of men, women and children were reported as trafficked, primarily for the purpose of forced labour, forced begging, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. Included were individuals trafficked from abroad, but there were also cases of internally displaced children recruited by traffickers in camps and trafficked to Saudi Arabia. 57. Progress was recorded in the Government’s efforts to establish institutional mechanisms to counter human trafficking. A functioning National Technical Committee to Counter Human Trafficking, chaired by the Minister of Human Rights, was established in February 2013. Comprehensive legislation criminalizing all forms of human trafficking was 22 23 Nationality Law No. 6/1990. OCHA, Humanitarian Bulletin, issue 24, 13 May–5 June, available from http://yemen.humanitarianresponse.info/. 13