Exclusive – Yemeni Parents Despair over Houthi Recruitment of their Children

Houthis are stepping up their recruitment of children. (AFP)
Houthis are stepping up their recruitment of children. (AFP)
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Exclusive – Yemeni Parents Despair over Houthi Recruitment of their Children

Houthis are stepping up their recruitment of children. (AFP)
Houthis are stepping up their recruitment of children. (AFP)

“Umm Suleiman” recounted her deep sorrow over the disappearance of his son, Suleiman, 20, in mysterious circumstances in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, which is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi militias.

She told Asharq Al-Awsat that he left the house around a week ago to attend a friend’s wedding in a nearby neighborhood in Sanaa and has not returned since.

“We do not know where he went. We have searched everywhere for him,” she said.

Her case is now a familiar story in Yemen. Hundreds of mothers have been left in despair over the fate of their children, who are often kidnapped by the Houthis.

Official figures revealed by Yemen’s Human Rights Minister Dr. Mohammed Askar showed that since their coup against the legitimate authority, the Houthis have kidnapped over 30,000 children to recruit for their war effort.

Suleiman’s father told Asharq Al-Awsat of his family’s suffering at the loss of their son. Despair forced him to seek out a Houthi “overseer” in his neighborhood.

He revealed to him that Suleiman had enrolled in a Houthi “cultural course,” which is often used by the militias to brainwash susceptible youth.

Suleiman’s father was outraged over the official’s nonchalant tone and infuriated further when he did not disclose to him his son’s whereabouts or when he would return to his parents.

“Most worrying of all is that several acquaintances asserted to me that once my son completes his course, he will likely be forced to head to the battlefronts to apply what he learned. He would either return to us dead or alive” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Who will listen to my problems? Who will bring us justice for such criminals?” he wondered.

An activist confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Houthis have stepped up their recruitment of children in Sanaa in recent months in flagrant violation of children’s rights and international agreements and norms.

Not a day passes by without learning about the abduction of one to four children from various districts of Sanaa, he revealed. The al-Snayniya neighborhood alone witnessed some six kidnappings in two weeks and 200 since February.

The Houthis often target their prey through the WhatsApp messaging app. Youths aged between 15 and 25 are often the target given how easy they are to manipulate and brainwash to their extremist ideology.

The threat of recruitment has forced some families to send their children away from Sanaa or abroad.

One resident revealed that he had to send his son, 19, to live with his relatives in Jordan to escape Houthi youths who had tried to recruit him. Another sold all of her valuables in order to send her son to the Hadramawt region to work with his uncle at a restaurant.

In the four years since the Houthi coup, hundreds of children have been killed in battle after they were recruited by the militias. Hundreds of others have been imprisoned. Those who escape Houthi clutches are placed in rehabilitation centers to tackle the trauma of war and rid them of their extremist ideology.



Anxiety Rises in DR Congo Capital as M23 Rebels Advance in East 

Residents venture out onto the streets following clashes at Kadutu Market in Bukavu on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Residents venture out onto the streets following clashes at Kadutu Market in Bukavu on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Anxiety Rises in DR Congo Capital as M23 Rebels Advance in East 

Residents venture out onto the streets following clashes at Kadutu Market in Bukavu on February 18, 2025. (AFP)
Residents venture out onto the streets following clashes at Kadutu Market in Bukavu on February 18, 2025. (AFP)

As Rwanda-backed rebels strolled through the streets of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's second-largest city, President Felix Tshisekedi's office claimed it was actually still controlled by his army and "valiant" allied forces.

It was the latest jarring move from the 61-year-old leader that has fueled a sense of worry and panic 1,600 km (1,000 miles) away in the capital Kinshasa, where some residents are looking to move their families abroad amid open talk of a coup.

"There was never any question of fighting in Bukavu. It was clear to all the people on the ground that the Rwandans and their auxiliaries were going to make their entry," said one army general who expressed bafflement at a statement issued by the president's office on Sunday.

Tshisekedi, he added, "doesn't have the right sources."

Anxiety is visible on the streets of Kinshasa as the army puts up limited resistance against the M23 group's advance and residents question whether Tshisekedi grasps the risk it poses.

Embassies have begun using armored vehicles for trips to the airport and sending some staff across the Congo River to Brazzaville, capital of Republic of Congo.

Three Kinshasa-based government officials told Reuters they were making arrangements to get their families out of the country.

Banker Matondo Arnold said he had already sent his family to Brazzaville after the rebels seized Goma, eastern Congo's biggest city, in late January. "We never imagined Goma could fall," he said.

As talk about a possible coup spread, Justice Minister Constant Mutamba said on X that Congolese "will not accept any coup that involves the Rwandan army to destabilize the country's institutions."

But even a member of Tshisekedi's Sacred Union coalition said the anxiety was unmistakable.

"Oh yes, it's panic. Some people are desperate and they are courting embassies" in search of an exit.

SUMMIT SNUB

This M23 advance is the gravest escalation in more than a decade of the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, rooted in the spillover of Rwanda's 1994 genocide into Congo and the struggle for control of Congo's vast minerals resources.

Rwanda rejects allegations from Congo, the United Nations and Western powers that it supports M23 with arms and troops. It says it is defending itself against the threat from a Hutu militia, which it says is fighting with the Congolese military.

As the hunt for a diplomatic resolution stalls, with Tshisekedi refusing to negotiate with the rebels, his camp faults the international community for failing to stand up to Rwanda by imposing sanctions.

"It's not a bad thing to refuse dialogue with an armed group like M23. The M23 is Rwanda," said a lawmaker close to the president. "Why doesn't the West do anything?"

Tshisekedi has skipped two African-organized meetings this month addressing the fighting - a joint summit in Dar es Salaam of Southern and Eastern African leaders and the annual African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

Instead, he travelled to the Munich Security Conference where he accused his predecessor Joseph Kabila of sponsoring M23's military campaign, which Kabila's camp denied.

The decision by Tshisekedi, who spent much of his life in Brussels, to fly to Europe drew derision from the Congolese political establishment.

"The fact that an African president snubs the African Union summit and prefers instead a security conference in Europe is indicative of who sustains him," said one former senior official.

Some members of Congo's fractious opposition are openly predicting Tshisekedi will not last.

"His lack of legitimacy is now proven, making him less and less listened to and more and more rejected by the population every day," said Olivier Kamitatu, a Kabila-era minister and spokesperson for opposition politician Moise Katumbi.

"Tshisekedi did not understand the issues of the country and the region. He did not have enough intellectual heft to lead Congo," said Martin Fayulu, who came in second in the 2018 election that brought Tshisekedi to power.

But it is unclear who could pose the most legitimate challenge to Tshisekedi, said Congolese analyst Bob Kabamba of the University of Liege in Belgium.

"With the capture of Goma and Bukavu, no one is sure of Tshisekedi's ability to control the security and political situation," he said.