Yemen: 100 children recruited into the ranks of the Houthis were killed during September

The Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights called on mothers and fathers in areas under the control of the Houthi group to protect their children and prevent them from being lured or thrown into the armed conflict, confirming the monitoring of serious violations affecting children and the rules of international humanitarian law.

The Ministry explained in a statement that it documented the killing of at least 100 children recruited by the Houthi group during the confrontations of this September, noting that cases of kidnapping and luring of minors were recorded through Houthi mobilization centers and summer courses to transport them to the battle fronts.

The Yemeni government held the Houthi leaders legally responsible for exploiting children, calling on international and international organizations to exert pressure to stop recruitment of children and support programs for their rehabilitation and integration into society.

She pointed out that the recent armed escalation witnessed a noticeable presence of child soldiers among the dead, and in video clips of prisoners, considering this as evidence of the group’s continued exploitation of children and pushing them to the front lines, in violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

The Ministry of Human Rights stated that it documented kidnapping and luring of children in governorates under the control of the Houthis, transporting them to mobilization camps and then to the fighting fronts, before some of them returned to their families as lifeless bodies.

She warned families against the methods of recruitment that she said the group uses under the names of cultural courses, summer centers, and general mobilization, or by exploiting poverty, need, and pressure on parents. It also called on sheikhs, notables, educators, and social figures to take action to protect children, refuse their recruitment, and work to return those who were recruited to their families and schools.