United Nations: The Houthis have recruited teenage girls for the purpose of espionage
English - Thursday 10 September 2020 الساعة 09:40 am
Aden, NewsYemen:
A team of experts from the United Nations has uncovered evidence that the Houthis in Yemen have recruited nearly 30 teenage girls as spies, paramedics, guards and members of an all-female force called the Zainabiyat, according to a report released on Wednesday.
The UN report is based on more than 400 novels and focuses mainly on the period from July 2019 to June of this year.
It also sheds light on the exposure of a generation of Yemeni children "to immeasurable harm through child recruitment, abuse and deprivation of their most basic human rights, including education. "
The expert group also documented 259 cases of children being recruited and used in hostilities by several parties.
The report said that the Iranian-backed Houthis have recruited boys as young as 7 years old from schools, poor urban areas and detention centers through financial incentives, kidnapping, recruitment by their peers, and indoctrination.
The team also received reliable reports about the Houthis' recruitment of 34 girls - ages 13 to 17 - between June 2015 and June 2020, for use in espionage.
They also recruited children, guards, paramedics, and members of Zainabiyat."
There are allegations that 12 of these girls survived sexual violence, and forced and early marriage directly related to their recruitment, the report said.
