The Ministry of Human Rights directs an urgent humanitarian appeal to fathers, mothers, and families in areas under the control of the terrorist Houthi militia, urging them to protect their children, prevent their enticement or involvement in the militia’s ranks, and not allow them to be turned into fuel for the furnaces of death on the battlefronts ignited by the militia, in order to preserve their lives and their right to life, education, and protection.
The Ministry affirms that field information during the recent armed escalation reveals a noticeable presence of recruited children within the ranks of the Houthi militia, whether among those killed or those who appeared in video footage of prisoners, reflecting the militia’s continued exploitation of children and their deployment to front lines, in a grave violation of their rights and of the provisions of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.
According to what the Ministry has documented to date, at least (100) children recruited by the terrorist Houthi militia were killed during the armed confrontations in September 2026 alone, based on the names, information, and photographs that could be accessed and that were published following their deaths. The Ministry stresses that this figure does not represent the total number of recruited or killed children, but rather a limited portion of the cases that could be identified and whose data could be verified, while field information confirms that the actual numbers are far higher.
The Ministry has also documented operations involving the abduction and enticement of children in a number of governorates under militia control, carried out by elements affiliated with it, before transferring them to mobilization camps and deploying them to battlefronts, then returning them to their families as lifeless bodies. These practices constitute an extremely serious assault on the child’s right to life and protection, and a violation of the family’s right to care for and protect its children from exploitation.
The Ministry warns families against recruitment methods used by the militia under the names of cultural courses, summer centers, and general mobilization, or through the exploitation of poverty and need and pressure on parents and guardians. It calls upon them not to hand over their children to any parties or supervisors working to recruit them or transport them away from their families and schools.
The Ministry calls upon sheikhs, dignitaries, educators, and social figures in areas under militia control to fulfill their moral and humanitarian responsibility, take action to protect children and reject their recruitment, refrain from providing any social or religious cover for this crime, and contribute to returning those who have been recruited to their families and school desks before it is too late.
The Ministry of Human Rights holds the leaders of the terrorist Houthi militia, supervisors, and those responsible for recruitment, mobilization, transportation, training, and the deployment of children into combat fully legally responsible for the lives and safety of these children, affirming that the recruitment and use of children in hostilities are among the grave violations that require monitoring, investigation, and accountability, and that responsibility for them is not extinguished by the passage of time.
The Ministry renews its call to the United Nations and international organizations concerned with child protection to intensify monitoring, verification, and reporting mechanisms, and to exert serious pressure to halt child recruitment operations, secure the immediate release of those who remain in camps and on the front lines, and support programs for their return, rehabilitation, and reintegration. It also affirms that every child saved from recruitment is a life rescued from death and a future protected from loss.
Issued by the Ministry of Human Rights
Aden | 30 September 2026
