Disappearances of children and young men have surged in Yemen's Houthi-held capital Sanaa and its outskirts in recent weeks, fueling accusations that the Houthis are luring them into military camps, training them for combat and sending them to battlefronts without their families' knowledge or consent.
The cases have also raised fears among families of possible extortion, as authorities face accusations of failing to investigate the disappearances or disclose the fate of those missing.
Local human rights sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the unexplained disappearances have left residents increasingly alarmed, with children and young men vanishing from schools, streets and residential neighborhoods, sometimes without a trace.
Families have been left to search for their missing relatives on their own, turning to social media to appeal for information as Houthi-controlled security authorities ignore their reports, the sources said.
About 13 children and young men have disappeared from different parts of Sanaa since the start of October, the sources said. Most were aged between 15 and 23, and some were later found at Houthi military camps or on battlefronts after being lured into combat training without their families' knowledge or approval.
Hundreds of disappearances involving children and young men have been reported in Sanaa and other Houthi-controlled cities since the beginning of the year, the sources said. Some families remain in the dark about their missing relatives' whereabouts.
The sources accused Houthi security authorities of ignoring families' reports and appeals, compounding their distress and leaving those missing vulnerable to exploitation and recruitment.
The latest cases, reported over the past two days, involve Amjad Noman al-Sarouhi, 16, who vanished from the al-Ansi neighborhood in central Sanaa's Maeen district, and Mukhtar Abdullah Hassan al-Rifai, 22, who went missing near the Haziz market on the capital's outskirts.
Lured into military camps
Families' accounts have deepened fears that disappearances are being used to funnel children and young men into Houthi military camps, amid accusations that Houthi supervisors and recruitment brokers are exploiting their social and economic hardships to draw them into combat.
In one case, a family spent five days searching neighborhoods and hospitals for a minor who disappeared from Sanaa two months ago, only to learn from a Houthi supervisor that he was at a military camp north of the city.
A relative told Asharq Al-Awsat that the supervisor confirmed Houthi members had lured the boy into the camp and put him through combat training without his family's knowledge.
The relative described five days of fear and anguish as the family searched for the boy, worried he might have been harmed, before discovering he had been taken to a Houthi camp and subjected to military training without their consent.
For Mujeeb, a Sanaa resident and father of four, the disappearances have turned even routine outings into a source of fear.
"We live in constant fear for our children. We no longer feel at ease even when one of them steps out to run a simple errand," he said.
"We fear a Houthi member or supervisor could lure them away or exploit their needs and difficult living conditions, leaving us facing a situation we are powerless to change."
Mujeeb said families wanted their children kept safe and allowed to pursue their education and lead normal lives, free from recruitment and being sent to battlefronts.
