General Directorate of Strategic Communications, Saudi Ministry of Defense
Committed to Islamic principles and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Coalition to Support Legitimacy in Yemen (CSLY) has been rehabilitating Yemeni children recruited by the Houthi rebels.
When child soldiers are fully rehabilitated physically and psychologically in Saudi Arabia, CSLY, through its Children Protection Unit, coordinates with international organizations to reunite them with their families in Yemen. Children receive physical and mental care in a rehabilitation program at centers prepared for this purpose.
The table (right) shows 147 child soldiers who had been recruited by Houthis but were rehabilitated in Saudi Arabia and repatriated to Yemen in a span of five years.
CSLY established a special unit to protect children in 2020 and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
In August 2022, CSLY’s Child Protection Unit, in cooperation with the Saudi Red Crescent Authority, organized a three-day symposium in Riyadh on protecting children during conflicts.
Among topics discussed in the symposium were the rights of children in Islam and according to international humanitarian law and human rights laws, the general principles of the United Nations Children’s Charter, measures to prevent injuries among children during military operations, protection of children’s rights during arrest and investigation, efforts to reintegrate children affected by armed conflicts, rights of children while being detained, the strategy of restoring familial bonds for children during armed conflicts, awareness of the importance of children’s rights and the necessity to raise them in a supportive environment.
However, the one-sided Saudi effort to protect Yemeni children from the impact of the ongoing war in Yemen will not suffice without the Houthis’ collaboration.
Until recently, the Houthis have not honored an agreement they made in April 2022 with the United Nations to halt the abuse of recruiting children.
Using schools and other educational facilities for training, where lectures are given to promote violence and Houthi militant ideology, Houthis continued to recruit and deploy child soldiers to frontlines as part of a force buildup during U.N.-brokered armistice.
Sources: Al Ayyam, Al Jazeera