I’m not advocating for the use of child soldiers. I’m advocating for the elimination of actions where children feel the need to stop becoming children and start becoming soldiers. Putting the full blame on just the Houthis who are stuck between a rock and a hard place is being very disingenuous.
They do not have to put children on the battle lines. That is a choice and that choice is both a war crime and a human rights violation. That needs to be acknowledged.
If you’re being wiped out by an invading army. Then a lot of things become necessary. This isn’t some kind of political or religious battle. This is a fight for their lives.
What force? The article you provided says recruitment, not force. They are literally telling these kids that we can help support you if you help us fight these invaders. True, they are young. But the US literally has similar recruitment tactics for the poor and the desperate as well. If you’re joining some kind of military organization, you’re either patriotic or desperate (usually).
Also, survival is a necessity. So yes, it is necessary. Otherwise, these kids would go play soccer instead of picking up a gun.
"In 2022, the Houthis signed an action plan with the UN to end grave violations against children, including the recruitment and use of children in their forces, and committed to releasing all children from their forces within six months.
Tawfik al-Hamidi, the president of SAM, told Human Rights Watch that the Houthis use their government institutions in their efforts to recruit children, including the Ministries of Education, Interior, and Defense. “All of them are working together and coordinate to mobilize children and recruit them,” he said.
Another activist, who works as a human rights researcher, said that “[recruitment] activities in schools have increased massively [since October 7], including through the school scouts. They take students from schools to their culture centers where they lecture children about the Jihad and send them to military camps and front lines.”
By leveraging official institutions, including schools, the Houthis have managed to take advantage of a far broader swathe of children. The UN secretary-general has also reported on the Houthis’ use of educational facilities for military purposes."
And what happened in 2023 that made the Houthi’s much more active and aggressive? What’s Saudi Arabia doing to Yemen with US made weapons currently? If you and your neighbors are being massacred indiscriminately simply because you’re the wrong ethnicity, it’s not a stretch to think you would choose to pick up a gun and fight.
Definitely not a stretch for adults to pick up weapons and fight, but what they’re doing to the kids by propagandizing them through religious indoctrination is entirely a different matter.
This is why the UN required them to stop using kids, which they agreed to in 2022…
They are literally telling these kids that we can help support you if you help us fight these invaders.
Yes. They are manipulating people who’s brains are not developed enough to make rational decisions like that. Which is why it is a war crime, a human rights violation, and not morally defensible.
You’re applying a very generous use of the word manipulate here, IMO. Yes, it’s bad but the alternative is to either die by missile’s or starvation. What would you choose?
No, I am not. Maybe you do not have experience with children. Telling them “fight for us and we’ll give you stuff” is manipulating them. They do not understand the consequences of their actions. That’s why it’s illegal to convince them to have sex with you in most countries.
If someone came to a Houthi child and offered them everything they needed in exchange for sex, I assume you would be against that. And rightfully so.
No, I am making an argument based on human rights and international war crimes.
There is no justification to equip children with weapons and put them on battle lines. They do not have consent to be there.
And I am not alone on this-
The Arab Center agrees- https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/child-soldiers-in-yemen-cannon-fodder-for-an-unnecessary-war/
Human Rights Watch agrees- https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/13/yemen-houthis-recruit-more-child-soldiers-october-7
Amnesty International agrees- https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2017/02/yemen-huthi-forces-recruiting-child-soldiers-for-front-line-combat/
ReliefWeb/OCHA agrees- https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/militarized-childhood-report-houthis-recruitment-yemeni-children-during-war-february
If all of those organizations disagree with you, maybe you should rethink your position?
I’m not advocating for the use of child soldiers. I’m advocating for the elimination of actions where children feel the need to stop becoming children and start becoming soldiers. Putting the full blame on just the Houthis who are stuck between a rock and a hard place is being very disingenuous.
Full blame? No.
Blame? Yes.
They do not have to put children on the battle lines. That is a choice and that choice is both a war crime and a human rights violation. That needs to be acknowledged.
If you’re being wiped out by an invading army. Then a lot of things become necessary. This isn’t some kind of political or religious battle. This is a fight for their lives.
I’m sorry… are you saying that it is necessary for them to force children to die in battle?
What force? The article you provided says recruitment, not force. They are literally telling these kids that we can help support you if you help us fight these invaders. True, they are young. But the US literally has similar recruitment tactics for the poor and the desperate as well. If you’re joining some kind of military organization, you’re either patriotic or desperate (usually).
Also, survival is a necessity. So yes, it is necessary. Otherwise, these kids would go play soccer instead of picking up a gun.
Unfortunately, all of that goes against what they agreed to do in 2022:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/02/13/yemen-houthis-recruit-more-child-soldiers-october-7
"In 2022, the Houthis signed an action plan with the UN to end grave violations against children, including the recruitment and use of children in their forces, and committed to releasing all children from their forces within six months.
Tawfik al-Hamidi, the president of SAM, told Human Rights Watch that the Houthis use their government institutions in their efforts to recruit children, including the Ministries of Education, Interior, and Defense. “All of them are working together and coordinate to mobilize children and recruit them,” he said.
Another activist, who works as a human rights researcher, said that “[recruitment] activities in schools have increased massively [since October 7], including through the school scouts. They take students from schools to their culture centers where they lecture children about the Jihad and send them to military camps and front lines.”
By leveraging official institutions, including schools, the Houthis have managed to take advantage of a far broader swathe of children. The UN secretary-general has also reported on the Houthis’ use of educational facilities for military purposes."
And what happened in 2023 that made the Houthi’s much more active and aggressive? What’s Saudi Arabia doing to Yemen with US made weapons currently? If you and your neighbors are being massacred indiscriminately simply because you’re the wrong ethnicity, it’s not a stretch to think you would choose to pick up a gun and fight.
Definitely not a stretch for adults to pick up weapons and fight, but what they’re doing to the kids by propagandizing them through religious indoctrination is entirely a different matter.
This is why the UN required them to stop using kids, which they agreed to in 2022…
https://youtu.be/angi1vwUkQc
I provided multiple articles.
Yes. They are manipulating people who’s brains are not developed enough to make rational decisions like that. Which is why it is a war crime, a human rights violation, and not morally defensible.
I was referencing the article from this comment.
You’re applying a very generous use of the word manipulate here, IMO. Yes, it’s bad but the alternative is to either die by missile’s or starvation. What would you choose?
No, I am not. Maybe you do not have experience with children. Telling them “fight for us and we’ll give you stuff” is manipulating them. They do not understand the consequences of their actions. That’s why it’s illegal to convince them to have sex with you in most countries.
If someone came to a Houthi child and offered them everything they needed in exchange for sex, I assume you would be against that. And rightfully so.