Yemen’s Human Rights Minister, Mohammed Askar, has accused Houthi insurgents of recruiting more than 15,000 child soldiers and sending them to the battlefronts without appropriate training since 2014.
At a symposium organized on the sidelines of the 38th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, Askar said that the militias have also resorted to gross human rights violations against Yemeni children, including mutilation, sexual violence and stopping aid access.
The Houthis killed more than 1,372 children since 2014, in addition to committing other crimes such as planting mines that have caused the death of hundreds of Yemenis, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Askar lauded the efforts exerted by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people and rehabilitate child soldiers.
He urged the United Nations to pressure Iran-backed Houthis into stopping the recruitment of children and the planting of landmines which result mainly in the death of children.
Discussing the situation in the Red Sea port of Hodeidah, the minister said the government had the legitimate right to regain control of the city in line with the constitution and international law.
Askar backed his claims by UN reports saying the humanitarian situation in Hodeidah is disastrous and that 25,000 people are suffering from malnutrition.
The city’s residents are not receiving enough aid although the majority of assistance to Yemen goes through Hodeidah Port, he said. Yet the insurgents are selling the aid to fund their war efforts and are using the port to smuggle weapons.
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