Sana’a — Rights organizations and monitoring groups have sounded the alarm over the systematic use of schools by Houthi militias to indoctrinate children and recruit them into combat roles. 

According to recent documentation, the Houthis have turned 852 schools across Yemen into centers for sectarian mobilization and military recruitment between 2024 and 2025, depriving thousands of children of their right to education and exposing them to grave risks.

Human rights defenders report that classrooms have been repurposed for propaganda sessions, paramilitary training, and indoctrination campaigns aimed at instilling extremist ideology. 

The Mayyun Organization for Human Rights revealed that by the end of 2024, at least 700 schools had already been converted into recruitment hubs, with the figure rising sharply in 2025 to reach 852 facilities under Houthi control. 

These practices constitute a serious violation of international humanitarian law, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits the use of minors in armed conflict.

The United Nations and civil society groups have repeatedly condemned the Houthis’ reliance on child soldiers. 

Reports highlight that boys as young as 10 are coerced into joining frontlines, while others are subjected to ideological indoctrination that glorifies martyrdom and sectarian warfare. 

Families who resist recruitment face intimidation, detention, or loss of access to basic services.

International observers warn that the weaponization of education not only undermines Yemen’s already fragile school system but also threatens to perpetuate cycles of violence for generations. 

“Turning schools into recruitment centers is a direct assault on children’s futures,” one rights advocate stated, urging urgent global action to protect Yemen’s youth.

Calls are growing for the international community to pressure the Houthis to cease child recruitment and restore schools as safe spaces for learning. 

Advocacy groups emphasize that accountability mechanisms must be strengthened, and humanitarian access expanded, to safeguard vulnerable children trapped in conflict zones.