Yemen’s Houthi rebels have forcibly recruited more than 10,000 children since the country’s civil war began in 2014, according to a new report by rights groups.
Hundreds of the children have been killed or injured while fighting for the Houthis, the report by the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor and the SAM for Rights and Liberties said, including 111 who were killed during the battles between July and August 2020 alone.
The rebels have been openly recruiting children as young as 10 since 2018, according to the report, which was released on Friday to mark the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers.
Child recruitment is a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
The Geneva-based groups said the Houthis indoctrinate children in their ideology through lectures held in schools to promote extremist ideas and encourage the students to support the rebel cause.
The Iran-backed rebels have opened 52 training camps for thousands of adolescents and children in Saada, Sanaa, Al Mahwit, Hodeidah, Tihama, Hajjah and Dhamar, targeting children 10 years old or above, the report said.
The report said the Houthis used intimidation as well as financial incentives in their recruitment of children. The rebels threaten families in areas under its control to give up their children and also target children in displacement camps and orphanages. In some cases, the group has offered poor families $150 a month in exchange for their children.
After ideological indoctrination and a month of military training, the children are sent to battlefronts where they are used to guard military posts and lay mines, as well as in direct combat with pro-government forces.
One of the child soldiers cited in the report said they were assigned to the mountainous Nihm battlefront near the rebel-held capital Sanaa.
“I was assigned with loading the guns and transporting them with foodstuffs to high, rugged areas. It was hard and exhausting. I used to get beaten and reprimanded when I arrived late. I cried a lot during those nights, fearing for my life and for missing my mother, father and brothers,” the child said.
The report quoted child soldiers as saying they were threatened with punishments including starvation, imprisonment, physical and sexual assault, and death if they failed to carry out orders.
“The United Nations should not tolerate this large-scale recruitment of children by the Houthis in Yemen,” the rights groups said.
“However, what is more troubling is not only the inclusion of children in military operations but feeding their simple minds with extremist ideas and filling them with hate speech and violence, and thus creating future extremists who may not be easily controlled given the huge number that the group recruits or aims to recruit in the future.”
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Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate
It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
match info
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Liverpool 0
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
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- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH
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Arabian Gulf League fixtures:
Friday:
- Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
- Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
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Saturday:
- Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
- Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
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