Houthis Launch Ideological and Military Recruitment Campaign for Students Amid Public Outrage

Public outrage is growing over Houthi practices in schools, where they are transforming educational institutions into recruitment centers and imposing their ideology on students. Schools and universities have now become hubs for military mobilization and forced conscription as part of the “General Popular Mobilization” program.

Experts point out that the group is no longer content with its long-term strategy of “indoctrinating education” in areas under its control in Yemen but has now expanded its efforts to direct recruitment.

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Activists on social media have strongly condemned these violations of children’s rights, emphasizing that Houthi practices have led many parents to keep their children from attending school for fear of forced conscription.

Recently, the local organization Mayyun for Human Rights revealed that it has documented hundreds of public and private schools used by the Houthis as recruitment centers for child soldiers, where they are trained in handling various types of light and medium weapons.

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On the occasion of the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers, Mayyun expressed deep regret over the rising number of child recruits in Yemen, which reached record levels by the end of 2024.

The organization added that the warring parties in Yemen, particularly the Houthi group, continue their systematic recruitment of children, depriving them of their right to life and education, exposing them to death and injuries, and endangering their future. This constitutes a grave violation of international law and human rights, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

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Despite a relative de-escalation of conflict since October 2022, child recruitment in Yemen has not ceased and has become one of the most alarming developments in the conflict since its outbreak in 2014. Mayyun documented the use of 700 public and private schools in Houthi-controlled areas as recruitment centers for children, where they receive training in handling various light and medium weapons under the direct supervision of the Ministries of Defense and Education—the latter having been renamed the “Ministry of Education and Scientific Research.”

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The organization also warned that this continuous recruitment of children, coupled with extremist ideological indoctrination in training camps and sectarian courses organized by the Houthis, poses a severe threat to civil peace and social coexistence in Yemen, undermining any efforts toward a lasting peace.

In January, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi announced the recruitment of 816,000 fighters in 2024 as part of the “General Mobilization” program in areas under their control.