Mayon Organization: Dozens of child recruits presented a military parade on Thursday in front of the Houthi leader, Mohammed al-Houthi, at the conclusion of the open military courses held for them by the Houthi group in training camps in the Sahar region of Saada Governorate

The "Mayon Organization" for Human Rights confirmed that the Houthi group's process of recruiting children in Yemen has entered a "new and dangerous" phase with the establishment of military training centers for school students in all areas under its control.

The organization stated in a statement that “Dozens of child recruits presented (Thursday) a military parade in front of the Houthi leader Mohammed al-Houthi at the conclusion of the open military courses that the Houthi group held for them in training camps in the Sahar region of Saada Governorate.”

She added: “This blatant violation of children’s rights in Yemen is a new and dangerous stage of violations, and undermines all international efforts over the past years aimed at stopping the recruitment of children in Yemen.”

The organization explained that since last October, the Houthi group has included tens of thousands of children as soldiers in its ranks following their graduation in what it calls “open courses” within military training camps located within areas under its control.

She pointed out that since the beginning of 2024, the Houthi group has summoned thousands of children participating in summer centers for the year 2023 in the areas under its control as reserve forces who are being retrained militarily to ensure their readiness to fight.

Mayon indicated that "the Houthi group has established military training centers for school children in all districts in the governorates under its authority."

Human Rights Watch had previously said that the Iran-backed Houthi group took advantage of the war in Gaza to expand its forces and recruit more children.