Aden – Local sources in Yemen’s western Hodeidah province have accused Houthi militias of extorting residents and pressuring families to enroll their children in military training camps, raising fresh concerns over child recruitment and human rights violations.

According to tribal leaders and community activists, Houthi supervisors have intensified efforts in recent weeks to compel parents—particularly in rural districts such as Bajil, Al-Marawi’ah, and Al-Durayhimi—to send their sons to so-called “summer camps,” which reportedly serve as indoctrination and paramilitary training centers.

Residents say the militias are using financial blackmail, threats of detention, and denial of access to humanitarian aid to force compliance. “They told us we wouldn’t receive food rations unless we registered our children,” said one father in Bajil, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Human rights monitors warn that these tactics violate international conventions on the protection of children in armed conflict. The camps, often disguised as religious or educational programs, have been linked to the recruitment of minors for frontline deployment and ideological indoctrination.

The United Nations has previously documented widespread child recruitment by the Houthis, estimating that thousands of boys under the age of 17 have been enlisted since the conflict escalated in 2015. A recent report by the UN Panel of Experts on Yemen described the practice as “systematic and state-sponsored.”

Yemen’s internationally recognized government condemned the alleged coercion, calling it “a war crime and a direct assault on the dignity of Yemeni families.” Officials urged the international community to take urgent action to protect children and hold perpetrators accountable.

Despite repeated calls for accountability, Houthi leaders have denied the accusations, claiming the camps are voluntary and aimed at “educational enrichment.”

As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Hodeidah, families face an impossible choice between survival and safeguarding their children from militarization.