During 2017, Mwatana verified the recruitment and use of as many as 879 children, through 607 observations and interviews conducted by the Mwatana team. Ansar Allah group (the Houthis) and forces loyal to its former ally, Saleh, recruited 58% of those children, mostly in Sana’a and Sa’ada. The Security Belt forces and the Hadramaut Elite forces, affiliated to the Saudi-Emirati-led Coalition, recruited 21%, particularly in Abyan and Lahj. The pro-Hadi forces and Popular Resistance groups recruited 20%, particularly in Abyan and Al Jawf. The Jihadi groups have recruited 1% in the governorates of Lahj and Taizz.

The parties to the conflict in Yemen recruit children under the age of 18 and use them for combat or security purposes, such as working at checkpoints or in logistics related to combat operations. The parties to the conflict have taken advantage of the deteriorating humanitarian and economic conditions in Yemen and of the large number of school dropouts in recruiting children.

The identities of the children recruits are withheld for their protection.

The Legal Framework

Recruiting children is prohibited in armed groups and the military pursuant to the provisions of Customary Humanitarian Law, Geneva Protocols, the Rights of the child, the Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention and, more recently, the Statute of the International Criminal Court.

According to the Worst Forms of Child Labor and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children under 18 must not take part in armed forces or armed groups. The Geneva Protocols point out that in recruiting among those persons under the age of 18 years, priority shall be given those who are oldest.

Article 45 of the Yemeni Child Protection Law of 2002 affirms that children shall not directly take part in the war and that no person under the age of 18 shall be recruited.

Incidents:

·         The Security Belt forces in Abyan Governorate have recruited two children at two different times Their father said: “The two sons dropped school and joined the Security Belt forces; I am worried sick that they would go to the front lines. They are still kids; and most of those who went to the front lines, they returned either dead or wounded. I wish the situations get stable and war ends”.^[1]

·         In Sana’a, the Ansar Allah group (the Houthis) have recruited a number of children, without the knowledge of their relatives. A number of the children’s families have submitted complaints to the prosecution, and continue to follow up on the cases to end the recruitment of their children.^[2]

·         One the relatives of the children, who were recruited by pro-Hadi forces in Al-Jawf said: “I tried to convince him not to join, but he did not listen to me.” I want to go there to get him back, but I am afraid I would be arrested. Those who exploit children have no ethics, nor conscience”.^[3]

·         One of the children, who were recruited by the Security Belt forces in Lahj, said that what prompted him to join the forces was the economic conditions facing his family, in addition to the delay in the payment of his father’s salary.”^[4]