Rights group records 30,000 violations against Yemeni children

The rights of Yemeni children have been violated thousands of times by all parties involved in the conflict, a Yemeni human rights watchdog said in a report on child victims of the war on Friday.

The Geneva-based SAM for Rights and Liberties said it had documented over 30, 000 violations of children's rights, including killing, forced recruitment, kidnapping, arbitrary detention and denied access to education and health.

SAM documented thousands of attacks against children carried out by the Houthi rebels but also by the internationally-recognised government and the Saudi-led coalition that backs it.

The recruitment of child soldiers remains prevalent in Yemen, despite calls to stop the practice. In 2017 alone, the United Nations (UN) documented the recruitment of more than 800 children. SAM believes over 20,000 children were recruited in the Houthi ranks since the start of the war.

Children have also been massively starved, maimed and killed by both coalition and rebel sieges against various Yemeni cities, as well as indiscriminate bombing campaigns. SAM documented the death of over 5,700 children, many of whom died in the city of Taiz - Yemen's third-largest city, besieged by the Houthis.

The rebels announced the opening of roads to Taiz this week.

The Yemeni government - backed by the UAE - Saudi Arabia and their regional allies, has battled northern rebels, known as the Houthis, for control of the impoverished country since 2014, when the Houthis took the capital Sanaa. The United Nations has called war in Yemen the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

A two-month ceasefire declared at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has largely held, and was extended last week.