Arab coalition returns Houthi child recruit to Yemeni government

Arab coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the recruitment of Yemeni children was a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. (File/SPA)

• Arab coalition has rehabilitated and handed over 147 Yemeni children since the beginning of the Yemeni crisis

RIYADH: The Arab coalition said on Monday that it had returned a Yemeni child recruited by the Houthi militia to the legitimate Yemeni government, Saudi Press Agency reported.
Spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the procedures were carried out in the presence of representatives from the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Saudi Red Crescent, the Human Rights Commission, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, and specialists from the Arab coalition’s Joint Forces Command.
Brig. Gen. Al-Maliki said the coalition’s child protection unit has rehabilitated and handed over 147 Yemeni children since the beginning of the Yemeni crisis, “who had been recruited, exploited and forced into combat operations on the southern borders of the Kingdom by the Iran-backed Houthi militia.”
The coalition said this was a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.