Forced child recruitment: Major Houthi crimes escalate in Yemen
In the shadow of international silence, Yemen’s children are facing recruitment for war within the Houthi terrorist militia, amid reports that the number of children recruited by the Houthis in Yemen has actually reached one million or more, in addition to the death of 640 children recruited by the Houthis to fight in its ranks during the first half of 2021.
Children in war:
The Yemeni human rights organization Mayyun revealed in a report entitled: “Children.. No Guns”, he asked about the number of Yemeni children who were brought into the country by the Houthi militia and who died as victims of recruitment into the ranks of the Houthis, ranging in age from 13 to 17. Among them were 13 children from the war media, all of whom were buried in public burials.
The Houthi-controlled Foundation for Care of the Wounded acknowledged that hospitals in Sanaa have recorded 3,400 children wounded in the attacks. The foundation said the incident “indicates a horrific massacre against children in these provinces, especially in Yemen in general”.
According to reports, Sanaa, Dhamar, and Hajjah provinces topped the death toll by 333 children during the first six months of this year, out of a total of 15 provinces monitored. An estimated 3,400 children were injured, as opposed to the dead and wounded whose names were not made public.
Military ranks of children:
The report by Mayyun revealed a list of the most prominent Houthi leaders involved in recruiting children. The organization documented the involvement of 125 leaders in child recruitment, foremost among them: “Yahia Badreddine al-Houthi, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, Mohammed Badreddine al-Houthi, Abdul Karim Amir al-Din al-Houthi, Abdul Majid al-Houthi, Ahmed Dirham al-Muayyed, Ahmed Mohammed Hamed, Abdu al-Mohsen al-Taous and Dhifallah Rassam,” the report said.
“The report also named 22 parties involved in child recruitment in Houthi-controlled areas, where the Houthi group has granted military ranks to between a second lieutenant colonel and 155 children, out of the total number of victims killed during the first six months of this year”.
“The Houthis have even given military titles to child soldiers in an attempt to ignite the enthusiasm of more families to send their children to Houthi camps, without any international monitoring of the violations they are subjected to inside those camps, starting with stuffing their heads with extremist ideas and employing them in hard work, in addition to violations amounting to abuse”.
Violations by numbers:
In March, a report by the Yemeni Human Rights Organization revealed alarming figures of violations committed against Yemeni children, amounting to 20,977 violations against children, in addition to the displacement of 43,608 children.
“The report by the Yemen Network for Rights and Freedoms said that the Houthi militia’s violations against children in Yemen ranged from killing, injuring, kidnapping, displacement, denial of education, sniping and recruitment, as well as denial of access to treatment, food and water as a result of the siege imposed by the militia on most of the provinces it controls, to the use of excessive force”.
The ANHRI field team documents “3,059 children killed, including 1,716 killed in clashes while fighting alongside Houthis; “The militia pushed them into the front lines”, he said, adding that 4,734 children were wounded, including 3,114 who were sent to the front lines.
Permanent disabilities:
“Another 321 children have sustained disabilities, mostly due to Houthi mines;” The network accuses the Houthi militia of recruiting 12,341 children, as young as 14 years old. It said that the recruitment process is still ongoing, and some tribes are imposing the forced recruitment of children, with crimes related to brainwashing, enticement with jobs and school certificates, and exploitation of the deteriorating economic situation in families.
“Children have thus become the most vulnerable group to violations by the Houthi militia, amid challenges that underscore the inaction of the international community and children’s organizations in the face of violations that claim innocent victims.”
The most prominent human rights violations:
Samar Issa, an international law specialist, said that the phenomenon of child recruitment is one of the most prominent violations of human rights and international conventions during the war that has been going on in Yemen for years.
Issa referred to the reports of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the phenomenon that spread at the hands of Houthi militias in Yemen, pointing out that children were used in combat operations or in accompanying actions such as guarding sites and checkpoints, planting mines, or targeting civilian populated areas.
Children raped in Houthi camps:
Issa says: The Houthi group has primarily relied on the recruitment of children, whether volunteers or forced, by brainwashing and indoctrinating them with extremist ideas, she said, adding that reports such as the Yemen Coalition to Monitor Human Rights Violations report have shown that thousands of children have been recruited, not only to involve them in the fighting, but to rape them.
The international affairs researcher said that this matter calls on the Yemeni government to appeal to the international community to exert international pressure to stop the recruitment of children, and to activate the international conventions issued by the United Nations regarding the prohibition of the recruitment of children in armed groups or armed forces.
