Factors influencing children armed recruitment in Yemen

Abstract

The phenomenon of child recruitment is an alarming issue all over the world in general and in Yemeni society in particular. As a result, this research article attempts to investigate the most effective factors that stand behind the armed recruitment of Yemeni children in the current war across the country. The research design is quantitative in nature and it is based on a questionnaire which has been designed and used as the main tool of data collection. The sample consists of 55 respondents who are intellectuals, activists and politicians as a convenient sampling. The SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) has been adopted to analyze the collected data via Google forms and e-mail. The overall results and findings have shown that the educational-oriented factors represent the most effective factors among the other factors that have a significant influence on children recruitment in Yemen war with a mean of (3.64) and S.D.D (0.41). Also, the second most important factor is the economy-oriented problems that have affected the whole country with a mean of (3.57) and S.D.D (0.43). However, the least effective factor among the others was the social factor with a mean of (3.30) and S.D.SD (0.49). The findings of this study imply that the absence and care of education has to a large extent paved the way to engage and recruit children in wars. Nonetheless, the economic and financial situation of people has undoubtedly helped in engaging young children in wars to get their living. Urgent solutions and remedies are highly needed and strongly recommended in education and economy fields to avoid and reduce the armed recruitment of children in the ongoing war in Yemen.

Keywords:

• child recruitment
• Yemen war
• Houthi Militia
• factors
• legal government
• brainwash

1. Introduction

Recruiting children in wars is not a newly emerging phenomenon, but it has been deeply rooted in history of humans. For example, children have been deployed during the American Revolution, the Second World War and the Civil War in Sierra Leone in the 1990s (Rosen, 2015). The victims of armed child recruitment are approximately 200,000–500,000 children worldwide. Singer (2010) estimated that children globally compose 40% of the world armed forces, including state armies, militia groups, and non-state armed rebel organizations.

In recent years, children have been actively engaged in fighting as in Afghanistan, Middle East, Myanmar, Yemen and in African countries such as Somalia, Congo, Burundi, Angola, Rwanda, Nigeria and Sudan. According to international labor organization, the forced recruitment of children as combatants is one of the most critical crimes in the world today. In at least 86 countries across the globe, more than 300,000 children under the age of 18 are fighting as soldiers either with government armed forces or with rebel movements (Dumas, 2003).

As far as the reasons of children engagement in war, a survey was conducted on poor countries; it is found that the reasons for children engagement in war vary from one country to the other according the nature of such conflicts. The survey has shown that in the African countries: Congo, DRC and Rawanda the economic reasons come first with 34%, whereas the ideological reasons come second with 21%. In addition, the social factors come third with 11% (ILO/IPEC, 2003). On the other hand, in the Philippines, it is found that about 90% attribute child engagement to ideological reasons. Also, the remaining 10% is due to social reasons (Andvig, 2006). According to Gates and Reich (2010) effective factors such as poverty, education level, war itself, religious identity, family and friends play a significant role in children recruitment in war to a very large extent.

2. Children status in Yemen

Children in Yemen have been vulnerable to armed recruitment which has started in 2004. However, it became very worse and severe in 2014 when Houthi Militia led a coup against the legal government. Thousands of children have been forced to the worst types of violence and extortion. Some of them left schools and were forced either for displacement or asylum and emigration. However, the most dangerous repercussions are the recruitment of children by the Houthi and Southern Transitional Council militia. These militias make camps for children recruitment and it has been documented by media and the reports submitted by Security Council envoys. Moreover, children are utilized by Houthi Militia and forced to participate in hostilities and they were trained to fight, or transport weapons and war equipment. Sometimes they are used to gather information about the opponents in exchange for getting their basic needs such as clothes, shelter, and food. The main reasons for engaging Yemeni children in the ongoing war can be the ideological background, cultural, social, financial, educational and political factors. These factors vary in their power and implication. Euro-Med Human Rights Monitors (2021) said that Children recruitment by armed groups is one of the gravest crimes that Yemeni children faced in the twentieth century. The number of recruited Yemeni children by Houthis as per the reports recorded by organization such as A 2017 UN report estimated at about 1,500 children. Mwatana said it is close to 1,900 children in the last 3 years (2019, 2018 and 2020). An Associated Press report said about at least 18,000 children were recruited by the end of 2018. The Human Rights Ministry of the Yemeni government mentioned that the Houthis had recruited about 30,000 children in total since 2014.

Militia of Houthis resorts to recruit minors and missing children due to

• The high number of hand weapons suitable for children.

• Ease of influencing them psychologically and culturally.

• Using school and education to influence children (the Houthis).

• The possibility of recruiting them by making false promises.

• Exploiting their economic (poverty) and social conditions (death or absence of a breadwinner).

There are multiple dimensions for child recruitment in Yemen. The Houthis are recruiting children to fight with them on various fronts of war to push them to the incinerators of death. The militia works based on a long-term survival plan. Their coup is an ideological project, not a political one, through which it achieves political gains. Therefore, child recruitment in Yemen is an assassination of their future.

3. Significance of the study

Children in Yemen are involved in the ongoing war and represent the highest level of the targeted category in Yemen to be the fuel of the war. There are certain reasons for children recruitment as the silence of the parents, tribes, government and non-government organizations. The sectarian ideologies will make these innocent children as extremists, fanatics, and terrorists in future. The hike of goods price and the cutting off the salaries affected the economic income of the family. With the escalation of violence against children in Yemen from September 2014 to the recent time, there would be no a single day without hearing about the killing or targeting a child. Children are the victims of the ugly wars, the unjust massacres and the proxy war. If these innocent children are not protected and kept out of the sectarian conflicts and religious ideologies, the future of Yemen will be like Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, and Somalia.

4. Aims of the study

This research paper aims to

1. Examine how significantly economic issues affect family orientations towards child recruitment.

2. Explore the most effective factors in child recruitment.

3. Determine the role of educational, social, political and cultural aspects in child recruitment.

5. Research questions

This study tries to answer the following questions:

1. How significantly do the economic issues affect the family orientation towards child recruitment?

2. What are the most effective factors in child recruitment?

3. What is the impact of education, social, politics and culture aspects in child recruitment?

6. Methodology

6.1. Participants

The participants of this research consist of 55 Yemeni intellectuals, politicians, and activists who participated and answered the questionnaire.

6.2. Method

As this study attempts to explore the most effective factors of the armed child recruitment in wars, the quantitative approach has been adopted. Therefore, this study is descriptive in its nature and it uses the questionnaire to survey the opinions of 55 intellectuals, activists and politicians in order to find out how significantly economic issues, educational, social, political and cultural aspects affect children armed recruitment. The number of the sample was exclusively 55 participants only due to the escalation of war and displacement. They are experts in the field of children recruitment and in touch with human rights organizations reports. In the same way, they are more effective than other categories of Yemeni community. The sample represents the most effective categories in Yemeni community. This could be conducted by two methods:

1. Primary data have been collected through a questionnaire. The questionnaire was the best data collection tool among the others due to the escalation of the war in almost all parts of Yemen. We used the questionnaire as the main tool to collect data for the safety of the researchers, to get the true opinions of the targeted sample. The questionnaire is composed of 20 statements in total. These statements have been classified into five factors of four statements each. The five categories are economic, cultural, educational, social and political factors influencing children recruitment in the civil war in Yemen. The questionnaire was designed to obtain the required information in relevance to the objectives and questions of the study. It focuses on the most effective points on child recruitment in Yemen. Moreover, Likert’s four-point scale is adopted ranging from 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree and 4 = strongly agree.

2. Secondary data have been collected from the previous studies, journal articles and the reports done by the organizations such as Syaj, Save the Children, UNICEF, United Nation General Assembly Reports, and the news websites.

6.3. Reliability (validity)

Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items is used to ensure and test the questionnaire reliability before distribution to the sample. The score shows that the items of the questionnaire are reliable at .839, which indicates that the analysis of the different scales used for the questionnaire items is reliable as shown in the following table:

Table

Reliability statistics
Cronbach’s alpha	Cronbach’s alpha based on standardized items	No. of items
.828	.839	20

7. Results and discussions

The data were statistically analyzed using frequencies, means, percentages and standard deviations. SPSS, a computer software program has been used to analyze the questionnaire. The researchers used descriptive statistics to analyze the phenomenon of child recruitment in Yemen. It deals with the most effective factors that lead children to be recruited and join war activities. Descriptive statistics were used to uncover the type of sampling distribution for the variables. Statistics such as mean and standard deviation were calculated in order to achieve this purpose. The statement that has high mean is more effective in its factor.

8. Economy-oriented factor influencing children recruitment

Economy factor is the first category which talks about economic reasons. It has four different statements that discuss economy-related factors. Obviously, there is a noticeable impact of economy on the phenomenon of child recruitment in Yemen as it is indicate in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Means of economic-oriented factor.

As shown in the table, 41 (74.50%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 14 (25.50%) “agreed” with statement no. 3 that “the deterioration of the economic situation affects children and their psychological, healthy and moral future”. Therefore, statement no. 3 ranks the most effective item in this factor with a mean of (3.75) and S.D. (0.440). It indicates that the respondents consider the decline of economic situation has a major effect on children’s psychology, health and moral future. Wessells (2006) argued that as a means to survive, children generally join an armed group in search of food, health care, security, and money or material assistance to support themselves and their families as well. On the other hand, statement no. 4 ’by throwing children in the crematoriums of death, the militias aim to prolong the war and use them as human shields and fuel for war to plunder the nation’s wealth and capabilities’, is the least effective statement in the economy factor with mean (3.47) as in Figure 1, and S.D. (0.742).

The weighted mean of economy-oriented factor influencing children recruitment was (3.57) with S.D.D (0.43) which indicates that the trend of the economy factor is (2) as a general trend according to Likert scale as shown in Table 1 since (3.57) lies in the interval [3.25–4.00].

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of economy-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

Statements		Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Mean	Std. deviation	Rank
1. The economic aspect is one of the most important reasons for children’s involvement in war.	N	34	18	2	1	3.55	.662	2
	%	61.80	32.70	3.60	1.80
2. Lack of basic life necessities (food—health—security) is a major reason for children’s involvement.	N	31	21	3	0	3.51	.605	3
	%	56.40	38.20	5.50	0.00
3. The deterioration of the economic situation affects children and their psychological, healthy and moral future.	N	41	14	0	0	3.75	.440	1
	%	74.50	25.50	0.00	0.00
4. By throwing children in the crematoriums of death, the militias aim to prolong the war and use them as human shields and fuel for war to plunder the nation’s wealth and capabilities.	N	33	16	5	1	3.47	.742	4
	%	60.00	29.10	9.10	1.80
Weighted mean						3.57
Std. deviation						0.43

9. Cultural-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

The cultural factor contains cultural-oriented issues that are relevant to children recruitment. Likewise, it consists of four statements as given in Figure 2 and Table 2.

Figure 2. Means of cultural-oriented factor

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for cultural-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

Statements		Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Mean	Std. deviation	Rank
1. Militias work on brainwashing children with corrupt beliefs and shadowing them in the holocausts.	N	37	17		1	3.64	.589	1
	%	67.30	30.90		1.80
2. Children are forced and used carrot and stick—firmly	N	25	22	8		3.31	.717	3
	%	45.50	40.00	14.50
3. Children join the crematorium voluntarily from a doctrinal perspective.	N	20	12	19	4	2.87	1.001	4
	%	36.40	21.80	34.50	7.30
4. There are children who joined the war, between the ages of 10 and 15, who were mentally polarized.	N	28	22	5		3.42	.658	2
	%	50.90	40.00	9.10
Weighted mean						3.31
Std. deviation						0.72

Table 2 illustrates that out of total 55 respondents, 37 (67.30%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 17 (30.90%) “agreed” with the statement that ‘militias work on brainwashing children with corrupt beliefs and shadowing them in the holocausts. Hence, statement no. 1 scores the most effective item with mean (3.64) and S.D. (0.589). It shows that a big majority of the respondents agreed that Houthi Militia brainwash children and instill corrupt beliefs leading them to holocausts. Haer (2017) argued that armed groups drafting children might also be militarily effective, since it is cheaper to provide for children, they are more obedient and aggressive than adults, and easily manipulated. In the same context, children are be easily convinced, controlled, exploited, and more responsive to threats and physical violence than adults (Furley, 1995). They are considered competent and obedient warriors, and an economically efficient alternative to adult fighters. They are the easiest in terms of ideological influence (http://www.un.org). On the other hand, statement no. 3 that “children join the crematorium voluntarily from a doctrinal perspective” is the least effective item in the cultural factor with mean (2.87) and S.D. (1.001). Andvig, J. C. & Gates, S. (2010) indicated that “Among the child soldiers from three of the Central African countries (Congo, DRC and Rwanda) the only 21% indicated ideological reasons as the main driver”.

The weighted mean of cultural-oriented factors influencing children recruitment was (3.31) with S.D (0.72) which indicates that the trend of the cultural factor is (4) as a general trend according to Likert scale as shown in Table 2 since (3.31) lies in the interval [3.25–4.00].

10. Social-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

The results mentioned in Table 2 showed that 34 (61.80%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 20 (36.40%) respondents “agreed” with statement no. 2. It however reveals that most of the respondents agreed with the statement, “family, society, media and human rights organizations play a weak role in warning of the dangers of children getting involved in war in the short and long term”. Thus, statement no. 2 is the most effective factor with the highest mean (3.60) as in Figure 3, and S.D. (0.531). Faulkner (2001) argued that children who are likely to be child soldiers come from broken families, have low or no education or they are greatly influenced by wrong choices made by their elder family members. However, the least effective factor is statement no. 1 that “the parents are primarily responsible for exploiting children and pushing them to the frontlines of battles” with a mean of (2.95) as it is indicated in Figure 3, and S.D. (0.756). ICRC (2013) indicated the severe consequences of the child engagement on armed groups. “Children associated with armed forces or armed groups will always suffer physically, psychologically and socially: the consequences of their involvement in conflict will persist long after the fighting has stopped“ (p. 4).

Figure 3. Means of social-oriented factor

The weighted mean of social-oriented factors influencing children recruitment was (3.30) with S.D (0.49), which indicates that the trend of the social factor is (5) as a general trend according to Likert scale as shown in Table 3 since (3.30) lies in the interval [3.25–4.00].

Table 3. Descriptive statistics for Social-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

Statements		Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Mean	Std. deviation	Rank
1. The parents are primarily responsible for exploiting children and pushing them to the first lines of battles.	N	14	24	17		2.95	.756	4
	%	25.50	43.60	30.90
2. Family—society—media—human rights organizations play a weak role in warning of the dangers of children getting involved in war in the short and long term.	N	34	20	1		3.60	.531	1
	%	61.80	36.40	1.80
3. The absence of educational, awareness and information programs contributed to the increase in the number of children involved in the war.	N	28	22	5		3.42	.658	2
	%	50.90	40.00	9.10
4. The tribe played a prominent role in the mobilization of children under the name of fanaticism.	N	26	20	6	3	3.25	.865	3
	%	47.30	36.40	10.90	5.50
Weighted mean						3.30
Std. deviation						0.49

11. Educational-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

The data in Table 3 show that 41 (74.50%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 14 (25.50%) respondents “agreed” with statement no. 3. It indicates that the majority of the respondents were in favor of the statement that “the failure to reopen schools and pay the salaries of employees contributed to the involvement of children in the war”. Thus, statement no. 3 is the most effective item with the highest mean (3.75) as in Figure 4 proved and S.D. (0.440).

Figure 4. Means of education-oriented factor

Moreover, statements no. 2 and 4 equally achieved the second rank among the other four items. 36 (65.50%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 17 (30.90%) respondents “agreed” with statement no. 2. It reveals that most of the respondents agreed with the statement that absence or lack of education has a great influence on drawing children into battles. Also, 38 (69.10%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 14 (25.50%) respondents “agreed” with statement no. 4 that “the systematic destruction of schools, institutes, colleges and universities contributed to the involvement of children and youth in the war.” Conversely, the least effective item is statement no. 1 that “illiteracy and low level of education play a major role in making parents allow their children to join the war”, with mean (3.56) and S.D. (0.688). Literacy rates were also low: 65% of the population over the age of 15 could read and write. The conflict has had a large negative impact on the education system. 1.8 million children are out of school. 3,600 schools have been directly affected: 248 of these schools have been damaged, 270 have been repurposed for housing internally displaced citizens and 68 have been occupied by armed groups. Therefore, the innocent children are the easy prey for the militia to do a brain wash and convince them to join the army conflicts (Harkness, 2015).

The weighted mean of educational-oriented factors influencing children recruitment was (3.64) with S.D (0.41) which indicates that the trend of the educational factor is (1) as a general trend according to Likert scale as shown in Table 4 since (3.64) lies within the interval [3.25–4.00].

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for Education-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

Statements		Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Mean	Std. deviation	Rank
1. Illiteracy and low level of education play a major role in making parents allow their children to join the war.	N	35	18		2	3.56	.688	3
	%	63.60	32.70		3.60
2. Lack of education plays a key role in drawing children into battles.	N	36	17	2		3.62	.561	2
	%	65.50	30.90	3.60
3. The failure to reopen schools and pay the salaries of employees contributed to the involvement of children in the war.	N	41	14			3.75	.440	1
	%	74.50	25.50
4. The systematic destruction of schools, institutes, colleges and universities contributed to the involvement of children and youth in the war.	N	38	14	2	1	3.62	.652	2
	%	69.10	25.50	3.60	1.80
Weighted mean						3.64
Std. deviation						0.41

12. Political-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

The data in Table 4show that 40 (72.70%) respondents “strongly agreed” and 12 (21.80%) respondents “agreed” with statement no. 4 that “the absence of the state, the accountability law, and the activation of law 45 of Article 149 of 2012 in the Yemeni constitution related to child protection”. It shows that the respondents consider the absence of the state, law, and the activation of child protection laws in the Yemeni constitution contributed significantly to children recruitment and engagement in war. Hence, statement no. 4 as in Figure 5 is the most effective item with the highest mean (3.65) and S.D. (0.645). This happens in states that are represented in the literature as “fragile”, “weak”, “collapsed” or “failed states”, wherein violence, civil war, and corrupt governments lead to weak institutions, the collapse of most infrastructures, negative economic growth rates, and worse living conditions (Rotberg, 2003). Child soldiering influences the escalation of war and prolongs the duration of conflict. Further, he concluded that child soldiering increases the strength of rebel organizations vis-à-vis the government (Haer, 2019). However, the least effective item is statement no. 1 that “the coalition is considered one of the reasons why children got engaged in war under the pretext of aggression” with a Mean of (3.42) and S.D. (0.686).

Figure 5. Means of political-oriented factor

The weighted mean of political-oriented factors influencing children recruitment was (3.53) with S.D. (0.45), which reflects that the trend of political factor is (3) as a general trend according to Likert scale as shown in Table 5 since (3.53) remains in the interval [3.25–4.00].

Table 5. Descriptive statistics of Political-oriented factors influencing children recruitment

Statements		Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	Mean	Std. deviation	Rank
1. The coalition is considered one of the reasons why children engage in war under the pretext of aggression.	N	29	20	6		3.42	.686	4
	%	52.70	36.40	10.90
2. The crimes committed by the coalition when targeting civilians strengthened the militias’ position to exploit children.	N	32	17	6		3.47	.690	3
	%	58.20	30.90	10.90
3. The absence of the role of the international community and the fear of punishment for perpetrators of crimes against children. With violence—seduction and pushing them to the holocaust of death.	N	36	15	4		3.58	.629	2
	%	65.50	27.30	7.30
4. The absence of the state, the accountability law, and the activation of Law 45 of Article 149 of 2012 in the Yemeni constitution related to child protection.	N	40	12	2	1	3.65	.645	1
	%	72.70	21.80	3.60	1.80
Weighted mean						3.53
Std. deviation						0.45

As per the results of the statistical analysis demonstrated in Table 6, a comparison has been made among the five categories of the factors influencing children armed recruitment in the war. Accordingly, educational factors category got the first trend and scored the highest effective factor in the phenomenon of child recruitment.

Table 6. Descriptive statistics for all five categories of factors influencing children recruitment

		Economy-oriented factors influencing children recruitment	Cultural factors influencing children recruitment	Social factors influencing children recruitment	Educational factors influencing children recruitment	Political factors influencing children recruitment
N	Valid	55	55	55	55	55
	Missing	0	0	0	0	0
Mean		3.5682	3.3091	3.3045	3.6364	3.5318
Std. deviation		.43155	.71680	.49463	.41056	.45148
Sum		196.25	182.00	181.75	200.00	194.25

Table 6 illustrates that the most effective factor among the studied five main factors is education-oriented factor with a mean of (3.64) and S.D. (0.410); however, the least effective factor is social-oriented factor with a mean of (3.30) and S.D. (0.494). Della in 2011 said that “poverty, the lack of access to education or training, discrimination, and vulnerability made children easy targets for recruitment by armed groups” (http://humanium.org/). Yemen has experienced numerous violent conflicts over the past few decades. Due to these conflicts, Yemen was suffering from poor infrastructure, high rate of unemployment, food insecurity and limited social services. Therefore, education system was very weak. Most of children were already out of schools, and only few completed children secondary education. Primary enrollment stood at 73.8%, with a 60.4% completion rate. Secondary enrollment was much lower, with only 33.5% attending.

The second factor which has high impact on the child recruitment in Yemen is economic-oriented factor with a mean of (3.57) and S.D. (0.431). Due to the terrible conflicts and the corruption of the regime, Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the Middle East. It is now practically destroyed by the Coup of Houthis and the coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

As of March 2021, Yemen remains beset by multiple armed and political conflicts which, in their totality, have crippled central governance, devastated the national economy, and exacerbated a long-standing humanitarian crisis.… The United Nations has described Yemen’s humanitarian crisis as currently the worst in the world, with close to 80% of Yemen’s population of nearly 30 million needing some form of assistance. (Sharp, 2021, p. 12)

With the escalation of ongoing war in Yemen from September 2014 to the recent time, of the total, almost 70% of children are involved in forces affiliated to the Houthis and units loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The other 30% have been recruited by terrorist groups like al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and ISIS—Yemen (ISIS-Y; Mulroy et al., 2019).

The Houthis have inducted 18,000 child soldiers into their rebel army since the beginning of the war in 2014, a senior Houthi military official acknowledged to the AP. He spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the information. (Michael & El-Mofty, 2018)

Due to the poverty and low income of the family, children were encouraged to join the army conflict in order to get salaries. Cutting off the salaries of employees exacerbated the economic situation and many people pushed their children to be recruited as the militia convinced their families that their children will be in the army check points and give them salaries. Unfortunately, these children left their schools to join the barricades. “To be a fighter means earning money, which is a means to sustain a livelihood for children who come from low social standards,” said Julian Hernes, Unicef representative in Yemen, in a statement. “This takes place everywhere in Yemen from North to South” (Qaed, 2015). Moreover, Yemen is mainly an agricultural country and depends on the rain. Most of the people are at the prink of famine. “Over 10 million people are on the brink of catastrophic famine in the conflict-torn nation. As many as 400,000 children are at risk of dying, according to the UN” (Mohanty, 2020).

The third effective factor is the political-oriented category with a mean of with a mean of (3.53) and S.D. (0.451). It indicated the devastation and fragmentation among the parties in Yemen. Due to the political tension, children were used as a tool to increase their popularity and domination as part of their conflicts. After the overthrow of the former president in 2012 and his cooperation with Houthi Militia, Yemen was driven into civil war. Houthis seized the chance to lead a coup to overthrow the state. They got the support of the army and weapons taken from the military camps. Most of the politicians and activists were obliged to displace their cities to Marib province or to go abroad. The legal president and all the government left to Saudi Arabia. The areas which are under the domination of militia are a big bank of human resource to exploit children in the frontlines. In a large context the conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia has played a vital role in the recent war and, therefore makes it a proxy war. The political-oriented factor proved that the absence of the state, accountability law, and the activation of child protection Article in the Yemeni constitution which was declared in 2012 contributed significantly to children recruitment and engagement in war. To protect children, Grover (2013) emphasized on the urgency to incorporate the Optional Protocols on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts in international human right law as an absolute prohibition of the children armed recruitment in any conflict by any actor involved

The fourth effective factor as the statistical analysis demonstrates is the cultural-oriented factor with a mean of (3.31) and S.D. (0.716). The cultural aspect refers to the traditions of the Yemeni community such as carrying weapons and participating in the cultural events with weapons.

The desperate economic situation and tribal culture play a major role in the prevalence of children as soldiers … . According to Abdul-Rahman al-Marwani, chairman of Dar Al-Salam Organization, a local NGO tackling the culture of violence, at least 1200 individuals annually become victims of gun misuse—both deaths and injuries. (https://www.reliefweb.int/)

As a conservative community affected with sects and the religious men, children are the easiest prey to be convinced to follow the fanatics’ instructions. Houthi’s recruitment of children began during the six wars they waged against the Yemeni government from 2004 up to 2010 during the regime of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. Children have been utilized due to the harsh living conditions of their families in the most heinous exploitation. The militia leaders used their ideologies deliberately to brainwash the innocent children, fill up their brains with myths and promise them with the paradise in the Day of Resurrection. This oriented factor shows that Houthi Militia do a brainwash for children and instill corrupt beliefs leading them to holocausts. They drafted children because they cheaper and more obedient and aggressive than adults, and easily manipulated.

The fifth and least effective factor is the social-oriented category. It scores a mean of (3.30) and S.D. (0.494). It indicates the social fabric structure of the Yemeni community which is mainly tribal. Child recruitment is a major problem in Yemeni society with a complex tribal structure, since many tribes consider partaking of children in fighting a great pride for them, and no one can deviate from tribal customs and traditions or rebel against them. Houthi militia used the tribes’ leaders as suppliers of soldiers either by giving them money or by using the power. The tribes’ leaders have only two options either to send their children voluntarily or Houthis abduct them and demolish their properties. This oriented factor proved that family, society, media and human rights organizations have played a weak role in warning of the dangers of children getting involved in armed conflict in the short and long term. They did not do the actual role for protecting the innocent children form consequences of war.

13. Findings

The following findings have been construed from the above data analysis:

• Among the five categories, education relevant factors stand out as the most effective factor with the highest mean. However, the second most effective category was the economic-oriented factor. Yet the social-oriented category scored the least effective factor that contributed to children recruitment in war due to the weak role of family, society, human rights originations and social activists. Similarly, some factors have been highlighted, as mentioned earlier, by Gates and Reich (2010) in their book titled: “Child soldiers in the age of fractured states”. These factors play an active role in children armed recruitment such as low-level education, poverty, family absence, friends and war.

• Most of the respondents considered the deterioration of economic situation has a major impact on children’s psychology, health and moral future. Children were forcibly enlisted by Houthi rebels and forced to carry ammunition and supplies to the front lines. The families of children get money in exchange of recruiting their children due to the bad economic situation (Michael & El-Mofty, 2018).

• A big majority of the respondents showed that cultural-oriented factor was very effective for involving children in the ongoing war. The cultural aspect of a community who carry weapons for so long time encouraged the militia to utilize the Yemeni tribes to let their children engage in the war. Houthi Militia do a brainwash for innocent children and inculcate corrupt beliefs leading them to holocausts. As the cultural-oriented factor children are easily recruited because they are cheap, easier to control or to do a brainwash. They are more obedient than the adults or old people. Children are unpaid and can be forced to join the frontlines of battles (Santino et al., 2021).

• It has been revealed that most of the respondents strongly agreed with the statement that “the failure to reopen schools and pay the salaries of employees contributed to the involvement of children in the war”. However, the results indicated that absence or lack of education has a great influence on drawing children into battles. Furthermore, the systematic destruction of schools, institutes, colleges and universities contributed to the involvement of youth and children in the current war.

• It has been shown that most of the respondents strongly agreed that family, society, media and human rights organizations play a weak role in warning from the dangers of children getting involved in war in the short and long term. Francis (2007) defined human rights conventions and treaties as “paper protection”, since they are not very effective in protecting and saving children from being recruited and involved in armed conflicts. All the formed international conventions, instruments, commitments, and principles within the framework of international humanitarian law should be active to stop the barbaric wars in Yemen since 2014. The implementation of these provisions will prevent children from being recruited and utilized by the militias. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court considers recruiting children as a war crime. “This Optional Protocol developed into the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 2000 (Jtek, 2011, p. 11). It has been ratified by 100 countries around the world so far”. These militias violated the rules and regulations related to Child recruitment in the resolutions 1261 (1999) and 1314 2000, No. 1379 of 2000, No. 1460 of 2003, No. 1539 of 2004, No. 1612 of 2005, No. 1882 of 2009, No. 1998 of 2011, No. 2068 of 2012, No. 2143 of 2014, No. 2225 of 2015 and lastly and resolution No. 2427 adopted on 9 July 2018. These articles confirm that the United Nations should protect children (Malescu, 2019).

• The results indicated that most of the respondents strongly agreed that absence of the state, the accountability law, and the activation of child protection laws in the Yemeni constitution which was declared in 2012 contributed significantly to children recruitment and engagement in war. Throughout history children have been involved with armed groups. Further, engaging children in armed conflicts all over the world is attributed to the failure of the states (Haer & Böhmelt, 2016). Human Rights Watch has warned of the crime of child recruitment in Yemen. It accused the Houthi militia of doing so without giving any consideration to international conventions that criminalize the process of child recruitment and throwing them into wars (Roth, 2019). An exact number of how many boys are fighting in Yemen’s conflict is hard to come by. According to some estimates, boys younger than 18 form nearly a third of Houthi militant’s force approximately 25,000 fighters. Most are aged between 12 and 17 years (Gulf News Report, 2015).

14. Conclusion

To wrap up, the present study remains one of the attempts to measure the most effective factors in Houthi recruitment of children in the war in Yemen. All causes together have basically contributed in the phenomenon of children armed recruitment. The implications of such phenomenon seriously necessitate drastic remedies at all levels: economic, educational, cultural, social and political level. The current study was conducted to highlight the most effective factors in child recruitment in Yemen. For this purpose, a sample of 55 intellectuals, activists and politicians were involved in the study through convenient sampling to know and survey their opinions about this phenomenon. Results were recorded using a questionnaire, and for quantitative data analysis, the descriptive and inferential statistical design was adopted.

The overall results yielded that among the five categories of the factors influencing children armed recruitment, educational factors were the most effective factors with the highest score. It has been found that economy factors have a great impact on the whole country and they achieved the second most effective factors in children recruitment. It has also been revealed that the third effective factors were political-oriented factors. The social-oriented factor played a vital role due to the absent of family, community, agencies, human rights organizations to warn the innocent children and fight for their rights. The devastation of the tribe construction led to make the children as easy prey for the militia. The cultural-oriented factor proved the Yemeni community used to carry the weapons for the tribe activities and conflicts. Therefore, the militia used to force the innocent children to participate in the war and they refused the shame and flaws will be carried for the tribe. Hence, the overall findings of the data analysis exposed that a combination of factors have led to children armed recruitment in the ongoing war in Yemen. However, it has finally been concluded that the education relevant factors have significantly influenced children to be recruited in the armed conflicts and wars.

Based on the findings of this study, some implications might be addressed to face child armed recruitment. Thus, to prevent and reduce children potential armed recruitment in the ongoing war, serious and drastic remedies are highly needed and strongly recommended in education and economy field as well. For example, basic education infrastructure has to be supported by government and human rights agencies. Also, schools, institutes, colleges and universities have to be re-opened for students and teachers’ salaries have to be paid regularly. Moreover, structural reforms in economy are required. Basic life necessities such as food, shelter, health and security are very necessary and have to be provided for children by the concerned government. Moreover, the political, cultural and social factors together have significant impact on child armed recruitment though they have low mean values. In other words, some the innocent children joined the battlefield due to their sect or tribe’s pressure. In this regard, politicians and laws should be activated and the accountability for the crimes committed against children. Therefore, Yemeni laws should be active and raise a file for the International Crimes Court against the militias who involve children in war recruitment. Besides, the cultural and traditional activities should support the child protection and prevent the innocent children to fall prey for the brainwash and the corrupt beliefs. The community should know that all religions, conventions, resolutions seriously prohibit child recruitment and stress on the importance of child protection. As a part of the findings of the study, there is a clear absence of the family, society, agencies, media and human rights organizations for warning the children from the consequences of the involvement in the war.

15. Recommendations

As per the results of this study, it is very important to add the following recommendations for the Yemeni children, family, society and the national and international community.

1. Yemeni children are part of children all over the world and they need protection against the fanatics, extremists, and sectarian militias that use children as fuel for their domination and cruelty.

2. All Yemeni children should be well aware of all the ideological, sectarian militias that want to engage them in the civil war and proxy war.

3. To parents, your children are in need of your protection so keep them safe from the fanatics, extremists and sectarian damns.

4. To Yemeni society, children today are men of tomorrow. Therefore, protecting them from the involvement in war is the responsibility of the society for the safety and security of the future of Yemen.

5. To the Yemeni government, the major role of protecting Yemeni children is based on the stability of the state, economy and spreading the power of the state all over the country. It is the state responsibility to provide children with education, health and security by means of supporting the educational system and enhancing the nativism among the nation. It is the state responsibility to activate the Yemeni articles and provisions related to child protection from the armed recruitment.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Ebrahim Yahya Saleh Sheikh

Ebrahim Yahya Saleh Sheikh is an Assistant Professor of English Literature at Al-Aharar Secondary School, Hajjah office of Education. He has got his MA and PhD. degree in English Literature from Dr B.A.M.U. Aurangabad, India. His research interests include political, social and cultural studies, war and peace in Arab world, child crisis, woman, race and gender discrimination

Salim Alshageri

Salim Alshageri Alshageri is a lecturer at the Department of English, Faculty of Education, Albaydha Univesity, Yemen. Currently, he is a Ph.D. scholar, Department of English, School of Languages, Literature & Culture Studies, S.R.T.M.U. Nanded, India. His areas of interest include cultural studies, critical and literary theory, pragmatics, linguistics, discourse studies and English language teaching

Mohammed Abdullah Hamood Hamid Hamood

Mohammed Abdullah Hamood Hamid Hamood is currently an Assistant Professor, Department of English, Amran Community College, Yemen. He has got his MA and PhD. degree in English Literature from Dr. B.A.M. University, Aurangabad, India.

Appendix

The Questionnaire

Table

Statement	Economy-oriented factors influencing children recruitment	SA	A	D	SD
Scale Value		4	3	2	1
1	The economic aspect is one of the most important reasons for children’s involvement in war.
2	Lack of basic life necessities (food—health—security) is a major reason for children’s involvement.
3	The deterioration of the economic situation affects children and their psychological, healthy and moral future.
4	By throwing children in the crematoriums of death, the militias aim to prolong the war and use them as human shields and fuel for war to plunder the nation’s wealth and capabilities.
Statement	Cultural factors influencing children recruitment	SA	A	D	SD
Scale Value		4	3	2	1
1	Militias work on brainwashing children with corrupt beliefs and shadowing them in the holocausts.
2	Children are forced and used carrot and stick—firmly
3	Children join the crematorium voluntarily from a doctrinal perspective.
4	There are children who joined the war, between the ages of 10 and 15, who were mentally polarized.
Statement	Social factors influencing children recruitment	SA	A	D	SD
Scale Value		4	3	2	1
1	The parents are primarily responsible for exploiting children and pushing them to the first lines of battles.
2	The family, society, media and human rights organizations play a weak role in warning of the dangers of children getting involved in war in the short and long term.
3	The absence of educational awareness and information programs contributed to the increase in the number of children involved in the war.
4	The tribe played a prominent role in the mobilization of children under the name of fanaticism.
Statement	Educational factors influencing children recruitment	SA	A	D	SD
Scale Value		4	3	2	1
1	Illiteracy and low level of education play a major role in making parents allow their children to join the war.
2	Lack of education plays a key role in drawing children into battles.
3	The failure to reopen schools and pay the salaries of employees contributed to the involvement of children in the war.
4	The systematic destruction of schools, institutes, colleges and universities contributed to the involvement of children and youth in the war.
Statement	Political factors influencing children recruitment	SA	A	D	SD
Scale Value		4	3	2	1
1	The coalition is considered one of the reasons why children engage in war under the pretext of aggression.
2	The crimes committed by the coalition when targeting civilians strengthened the militias’ position to exploit children.
3	The absence of the role of the international community and the fear of punishment for perpetrators of crimes against children. With violence—seduction and pushing them to the holocaust of death.
4	The absence of the state, the accountability law, and the activation of Law 45 of Article 149 of 2012 in the Yemeni constitution related to child protection.