Yemen: Houthi Summer Centers Accused of Indoctrinating and Recruiting Children

Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen are implementing a systematic campaign targeting children through "summer centers," which educators and human rights activists describe as a severe violation of childhood and a perversion of education into a tool for ideological mobilization and early military recruitment.

According to testimonies from parents and local sources, these centers are organized in schools, mosques, and public facilities. Families face direct and indirect pressure to enroll their children, including threats of withholding aid, security repercussions, or social stigma. Parents confirm that while enrollment is ostensibly voluntary, coercion and fear dictate participation.

Former teachers who worked in these centers report that the programs deviate significantly from educational norms. School curricula are replaced with sectarian lessons, hate speech inciting violence, and concepts promoting exclusivity and animosity. These sessions glorify violence and martyrdom, while instilling absolute loyalty to the Houthi militia and its leadership. Children are also taught military songs and slogans and subjected to intensive psychological conditioning.

Human rights sources indicate that some centers include military training, involving the use of light weapons and mock combat simulations. This practice is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits child recruitment. Subsequently, some children who attended these centers have disappeared, only to reappear at frontlines or in training camps.

Sociology experts warn that the most dangerous aspect of these centers is their long-term impact on the social fabric. They deepen divisions, sow hatred among children, and transform schools from spaces of knowledge into arenas of ideological conflict. They emphasize that a generation raised on violence and exclusion will be a burden on any future peace process.

Local and international human rights organizations have previously warned of the gravity of these practices, deeming the targeting of children a war crime and a gross violation of child rights. These organizations urge the international community, particularly the United Nations, to take deterrent measures, hold those responsible for child recruitment accountable, and pressure for an immediate cessation of these activities.

A parent in Sana'a, who requested anonymity, stated: "Either you send your son to the summer center, or you are accused of being against the group. We fear for our children's minds being washed more than we fear hunger." Other testimonies corroborate that many children have returned home exhibiting aggressive behavior and alien ideas.

Human rights advocates assert that the Houthi "summer centers" are not educational or recreational activities but rather organized instruments for perpetuating war across generations. With every child forcibly sent to these closed camps, Yemen's hope for genuine peace diminishes, and the trauma of stolen childhood deepens.