The Houthi Militias use Education in an attempt to totally dominate the people who are in the areas which they control. They use different methods which include ‘persuading and coercing’ to implement their sectarian policies.
The militias occupied the country (following the coup d'etat in Sep 2014) against the legitimate government and deprived the employees of their salaries in an attempt to put pressure on the families. .
Not only did the militias target adults but it moved on to attract young people and children to fight with them.
They kidnapped girls and took many against their will. They opened classrooms and education centres to brainwash youngsters and children and subjected them to lessons and lectures which contradict their beliefs. Nearly all the lessons they present to the children and youth in the centres include sectarian ideas aimed to prepare them to fight at war Fronts Under the motto ‘to fight against Israel and America’, in a report for the Alayyam Newspaper.
The supervisory committees of those centres in Sana'a announced that it opened 2,400 summer centres to sign up 120,000 youth including children. Observers warned that the Houthi methods must be listed under war crimes committed by the militias against children.
Residents in Sana'a explained to Alayyam Newspaper that the groups’ supervisors follow several methods to attract and lure the children to convince them to join these summer centres. The centres provide cultural activities, creative arts and sports. They exploit religious points of view to justify their means.
Preachers in the groups say in their official statements, that the summer centres are established to develop and install a religious culture and knowledge in young people and children.
One of the excuses which the Houthis use, is to immunize the generations from the media and psychological wars and cultures which are directed against the Yemeni people. They say that they are protecting them from the ‘external enemies America and Israel’. Considering the Intellectual war is more dangerous than the military one.
Two weeks ago, preachers and Imams of mosques dedicated their sermons and lectures to invite young people to attend summer centres which were held in dozens of different directorates. They claim that they offer culture and Islamic sciences, a resident from Sanaa said.
Local residents confirmed that elements of the Houthi groups roamed a number of streets of Sana'a using loudspeakers demanding parents to assign their children to the summer centres, at a time when it shut many other governmental centres under the pretext of lack of license.
An official source, who asked not to be named, said to Alayyam Newspaper that the Houthi militias allocated many teams which are distributed in all neighbourhoods and districts, which are under their control, asking parents to enroll their children at those centres. Those who refuse to do so would be accused of being outlaws and supporting the enemy.
The Houthi militias not only target children and young people but also recruit what it calls the Zinibayat. A system which entices women and young girls from middle and high schools, to sit in similar sectarian awareness lectures and training courses to serve in their ranks.