Human Rights Report Reveals Serious Violations Against Children in Yemen
A recent human rights report has revealed that children in Yemen have been subjected to severe and widespread violations committed by the Houthi group over 11 years of conflict, making them one of the most affected groups by the ongoing war.
According to a report by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms on the state of human rights in Yemen, violations committed by the Houthi group from September 21, 2014, until the first half of 2025 have resulted in the deaths of 3,897 children, including 512 infants. These deaths were caused by indiscriminate shelling, landmines, sniper fire, and other forms of violence targeting residential neighborhoods, villages, and roads.
The report explained that children were not only victims of killing, but that thousands were also injured. It documented 2,983 wounded children as a result of shelling, explosions, and sniper attacks, in addition to 654 children injured by landmines planted by the Houthi group in populated areas, leading in many cases to permanent disabilities and physical and psychological trauma.
The report noted that hundreds of children were among more than 812 civilians who sustained permanent disabilities due to landmine explosions in villages, farms, roads, and even near schools—an alarming violation that threatens the future of childhood and undermines children’s right to safe living, education, and healthy development.
The network also documented cases of arrest, abduction, and enforced disappearance affecting children among thousands of civilians, with some subjected to psychological and physical torture in illegal detention facilities. The report further highlighted the exploitation of mosques and ideological indoctrination centers to brainwash children and adolescents and push them into environments of violence and extremism.
It added that the continued planting of landmines and targeting of civilian facilities, including schools and healthcare centers, has turned the lives of thousands of children into daily suffering, depriving them of their most basic human rights and leaving long-term consequences that will affect Yemeni society for years to come.
The Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms concluded that the violations against children in Yemen amount to war crimes and serious breaches of international humanitarian law, calling on the international community to uphold its moral and legal responsibilities by taking decisive action to protect children, halt violations, hold perpetrators accountable, and ensure a safe future for Yemeni children.
