Houthis cannot be allowed to create a lost generation

▶ Yemeni schoolchildren of just 10 are being conscripted. The group must be stopped

Last year marked a series of lows for the Houthis, the militant g roup that has done so much to stir up conflict in Yemen. In May, the group fired a ballistic missile at Riyadh the day before Donald Trump, the US president, was due to arrive in Saudi Arabia on his inaugural foreign visit. The unsuccessful attack was the prelude to further assaults in November and December. The relative sophistication of the weaponry used suggested direct Iranian involvement, something the regime in Tehran contested, but the point was thoroughly backed up by Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, who “declassified” segments of two recovered missiles from the attack, describing them as “concrete evidence of illegal Iranian weapons proliferation”. Later the same month, the Houthis ended their alliance of convenience with Ali Abdullah Saleh, the country’s former president, by accusing him of staging a coup after he said he was willing to pursue conflict-resolution talks with the Saudi-led coalition. Houthi fighters shot him dead outside Sanaa in early December. Reflecting on the events, Dr Anwar Gargash, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, described the Houthis as a “sectarian militia of thieves”.

The new year brings a new low for the Houthis – now they are stealing the childhoods of Yemen’s youth. As The National reported, the militia has been conscripting children. Reports say they have been snatching boys from a Sanaa orphanage and recruiting primary school students as young as 10. Once conscripted, the children are briefly sent away for training before being packed off to the battlefield. An earlier UN report had documented an alarming increase in the “recruitment and use of children” by the Houthis. The war in Yemen has taken its toll on all of the country’s civilians, but especially its children. The evidence is conclusive and helps explain once again the UAE’s commitment to resolving the conflict in Yemen and restoring peace and stability to the country. The Houthis hijacked Yemen when they deposed the legitimate government. They stifle hope with threats to block shipping traffic in the Red Sea. Restoring a legitimate government in Sanaa is vital and urgency is a must to stop snatching away the childhood of an entire generation.