Yemen: Follow-up to YEM35342.E of 28 August 2000 on forcible recruitment in the army; whether young men under 18 are kidnapped and recruited into the army
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 19 October 2000 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | YEM35856.E |
| Reference | 2 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Yemen: Follow-up to YEM35342.E of 28 August 2000 on forcible recruitment in the army; whether young men under 18 are kidnapped and recruited into the army, 19 October 2000, YEM35856.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3df4bec624.html [accessed 29 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Desk Officer for the Middle East at Save the Children Sweden provided the following information on 7 September 2000 on forcible recruitment in the army and whether young men under 18 are kidnapped and recruited into the army:
... concerning forced military recruitment in Yemen, we have now consulted our offices and their staff in both Aden and Sana'a', Yemen, local co-operation partners, international partners and other people. None of them have given us any information confirming that today "boys under 18 are being kidnapped and forcibly recruited into the army". Child soldiers is kind of a taboo issue and the Yemen president Ali Abdullah Saleh is proud of once being a child soldier himself (which he often refers to in public).
Yemen ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 (which states that the minimum age for military conscription should be 16 years) and the Yemeni national legislation states the age of 18 as the minimum age for conscription. Nevertheless, Yemen is a poor country and probably there are cases of poverty forcing boys into the army (personal reflection - there are no information and/or statistics to confirm this, though).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
Reference
Save the Children Sweden, Stockholm. 7 September 2000. Correspondence with Desk Officer for the Middle East.
