Yemeni Activists Launch Campaign Condemning Houthi Recruitment of Child Soldiers

Yemeni activists have launched a fierce social media campaign against Houthi recruitment and deployment of child soldiers to battle fronts. Human rights defenders and organizations are urging the international community to condemn the Iran-backed group.

Launched on the International Day Against the Use of Child Soldiers, February 12, the campaign was joined by thousands of Yemenis who complained about Houthi human rights violations and shared documented evidence of crimes committed by the group’s militants.

Footage, information and video recordings of how Houthis are drafting minors were shared on social media platforms.

While official government reports confirm that the pro-Iranian militia recruited more than 30,000 children and minors, other organizations documented the group’s recruitment of more than 10,000 children and minors during the past six years.

“On International Day to Combat Child Recruitment, we remember the thousands of children brainwashed, recruited and taken to death by Houthis militia from homes and schools, in most serious exploitation of children in hostilities in human history,” Yemeni Information Minister Muammar al-Eryani tweeted.

“Houthis militia exploit children in hostilities before world’s eyes, mobilizing hundreds of them who lack experience in battle fronts in Marib, without any concern for the fate that awaits them and the suffering of their families,” he added.

“International community, human rights and child protection organizations are called to condemn these heinous crimes against children in Yemen, and pressure Houthis to stop children recruitment, ensure their right to live, like their peers in world,” he stressed.

Houthis mounting a vicious recruitment effort targeting minors has resulted in a drop in the number of high school graduates enrolling in universities.

At Dhamar University, the number of registered students has dropped sharply in recent years, a source who requested anonymity told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Other academic sources in Hajjah governorate recorded a similar drop in enrollment whereby only 100 students signed up at local faculties which originally were prepared to receive 1,000 students.