[Yemeni Experts Urge Europe to Increase Pressure on Houthis Over Child Recruitment

Yemeni Experts Urge Europe to Increase Pressure on Houthis Over Child Recruitment

Yemeni academics and human rights advocates  called on European institutions to intensify political and diplomatic pressure on the Houthi movement and hold those responsible for recruiting and indoctrinating children accountable, warning of the long-term consequences for Yemen's future generations and national identity.

The appeal was made during a human rights seminar organized by the European Yemeni Forum in cooperation with Rights Radar for Human Rights and the Yemeni community in the Netherlands.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Abdulbaqi Shamshan, Professor of Political Sociology at Sana’a University, said that Houthi mobilization and ideological recruitment efforts have, according to his estimates, affected more than 250,000 children across over 500 schools and educational centers.

Shamshan warned that the phenomenon extends beyond military recruitment, arguing that it seeks to reshape children's consciousness, beliefs, and loyalties in ways that weaken the concept of citizenship and undermine the foundations of the Yemeni national state.

He called for the preparation of comprehensive and well-documented human rights case files to be referred to relevant judicial bodies, alongside the implementation of long-term rehabilitation programs for affected children. Such programs, he said, should address the psychological, social, and intellectual impacts resulting from recruitment and indoctrination.

The seminar, hosted at the Humanity Hub in The Hague, brought together specialists and human rights advocates who discussed child recruitment in Yemen, the blockade of Taiz, mechanisms for documenting violations, and the role of European institutions in protecting civilians and ensuring accountability for perpetrators.