Yemen: 30,000 children recruited by Houthi are at risk of death
English - Friday 14 February 2020 الساعة 04:07 pm
aden, newsyemen
The legitimate Yemeni government said that more than 30,000 children are recruited into the ranks of the Houthi militia and face the risk of death and violations of their rights at the hands of these coup militias.
This came in the words of Yemen's permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah Al-Saadi, during his speech at the first session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Al-Saadi called for a review of the mechanisms for monitoring violations committed against children in the Houthi militia-controlled areas, stressing that the statistics provided by the current mechanisms are far from reality, according to what the official Yemeni News Agency quoted.
He referred to the practices of the Houthi militia and its exploitation of the economic and humanitarian conditions of families and forcing them to recruit their children and throw them into their absurd crematoria.
The permanent representative of Yemen to the United Nations stressed the importance of cooperation between the government and UNICEF to implement the action plan to end and prevent the use of children in armed conflict signed between the Yemeni government and the United Nations in 2014, as well as the implementation of the road map for implementing this plan and eliminating the phenomenon of child recruitment, protection, rehabilitation and reintegration in society and hand them over to their families.
Al Saadi praised the role played by the King Salman Center for Relief and Humanitarian Action in financing the Rehabilitation Center for Children in Marib Governorate, calling on UNICEF to establish other centers in the liberated areas to rehabilitate children affected by the conflict and integrate them into society.
In this context, the European Union Mission in Yemen stressed the importance of keeping children safe from war.
The European Union, in a statement, on the occasion of the International Day against Child Recruitment, urged all parties to the conflict in Yemen to end and prevent the involvement of children under the age of 18 years in armed conflict, and considered this a violation of human rights law.
"The protection of children is a central component of the ongoing peace process, as giving children a safe childhood is the best guarantee for the future of the country," the European Union mission concluded.
