Sa’dah war, flagrant abuse of childrens’ rights Part (1)

Every war has a price, and all Yemenis from the remote areas of al-Mahrah to the Saudi borders  have paid this  price, however Sa’dah people bear the bulk of the price. Every dispute has victims but the people of Sa’dah are the most affected and the Sa’dah children are the first among the victims with the utmost complications.

Young children from both sexes moved in the night from their fathers’ homes and farms to tents that don’t protect them from the summer heat or winter cold and from a clean agricultural environment to an arid hot desert with dust that decreases visibility and brings them diseases that they have never before experienced.

They are pursued by the nightmares of the disaster which clings to their memories, leaving marks of fear on their faces wondering  what is awaiting them in the future..

 The impacts of this horrific war on children is not only limited to   their present and past, but its results might inevitably extend to their future.

The events that  have been encountered by the  generation of war children in Sa’dah and other areas have marked a central turing point in their lives which is confirmed by doctors, psychologists and supported by the facts and evidence of life in the details of everyday life experienced by these children, whether in the miserable refugee camps or in other areas of displacement.

What these children have experienced is considered to be an outstanding abuse to the rights guaranteed by international charters and regional and local laws.

The abuses faced by the current displaced children can be seen from many sides, most notably violations by the warring parties that force them to be active war combatants. Studies show that 18 percent of the fighters among the rebels and tribal militias that are fighting the government are children who are under the age of 18.

Moreover, children constitute the greatest portion of the dead among fighters and the civilians in the conflict areas. Those who survive death may be deprived of one of their parents or some of their relatives, in some cases the children have witnessed the murder  of their lost loved ones committed before their own eyes. Those who escape the tragedies may not escape detention and the violent events, stories  and tragedies of those who fled with their families and relatives who will be deprived of rights such as education, health care as well as exposure to  physical and psychological diseases, least among them the malnutrition.

This is confirmed by the people in the IDPs camps in al-Mazraq in Haradh and Haja Directorates.

 Ibrahim al-Siani a 13 years old boy living in Sa’dah was arrested during the war. He has lost an arm, has a broken leg and a paralyzed body, and when his parents wanted to visit him they did not know where he was.  Such acts are contrary to Conventions and a violation of human rights in general and childrens’ rights in particular. Children constitute more than 60 per cent of the displaced. The relief agencies do not have access to many of the displaced because of insecurity.

The estimated number of displaced children who are school-aged is about 55,000 children. To ensure an uninterrupted education for these children the UNICEF and other organizations are trying to provide opportunities for learning, distribution of educational materials and teacher training. They have  asked for about $1.25 million to fund education programs.

 UNICEF also requested funding to address malnutrition among displaced children and the children of the  families of the hosting communities. About 250,000 are supposed to benefit from these programs, including 75,000 children who are under the age of five.

Yemen Observer is of the few journals that went to find about the Internally Displaced Persons “IDPs”, when Yemen Observer went to al-Mazraq area in Haradh- Haja Directorates where three camps are established in a dry desert area with prevailing  high temperature and dusty arid land.

Those in charge of these camps say that they chose this area because of their proximity to displacement areas.

Six hundred people, most of them children live in the   al-Mazraq camp three.

According the camps’ residents, those who returned have met  great difficulties and hardships because they didn’t find their houses, farms or any other things in place and above all they were faced with interrogations and investigations by the Houthis, which ends in the imposition of Zakat and royalties payments as contribution in Jihad. Those who are refuse or suspected of collaborating with the state and will be sent to underground prisons, the largest of them is the Naga’ central prison. 

The IDPs in these camps are between the hammer of displacement that constitutes hardships and anvil of the risks of returning. Their options are few and many stay in the camps which means drifting into the unknown.

Imagine the life of the children who constitute  60 percent of this community with tragic stories  that need  immediate intervention and attention.

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