Yemen’s reignited war fuels a new wave in child recruitment
Yemeni government and Houthi forces are engaged in a new round of fighting.
Sanaa, Yemen – A month ago, a Houthi recruiter in his 40s, approached 16-year-old Abdulkarim in Sanaa and told him about the possibility of being sent to the front line in Marib, where fighting was raging against pro-government forces.
Abdulkarim was promised a Kalashnikov, and a one-month military training course and 50,000 Yemeni rials ($100), slightly above the local average.
In a country where more than four in five rural children are multidimensionally deprived, the offer was a tempting one. While Abdulkarim was ready to fight, his father, 39, did not approve and so Abdulkarim stayed in Sanaa.
“Sending a child to a military camp or the front line can sometimes provide the family with some form of material support or irregular income. This may not be a stable salary or a clearly defined package of benefits, but for families living in extreme poverty, even limited assistance can appear better than having no income at all.”