Riyadh — The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen signed here on Monday a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations to protect children affected by the armed conflict in Yemen. The MoU was signed by Prince Lt. Gen. Fahd Bin Turki Bin Abdulaziz, Joint Forces Commander of the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, and Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The signing ceremony was attended by permanent representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations Ambassador Abdallah Al-Moullimi. Children have been suffering in areas under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthi militias. They have forcibly sent children to fight on the frontlines. Many times these militias keep children as human shields. Recently the Association of Abductee Mothers condemned Houthi militias for kidnapping dozens of their children and transferring them to secret prisons dubbed "exchange houses." The Association, which is a Yemeni human rights organization, issued on Wednesday a statement saying it does not know the whereabouts of dozens taken away by Houthis four years ago. In its latest report, the Association said 230 citizens, who were kidnapped before 2018, have disappeared. The militias transferred the captives from their places of detention to secret prisons, it added. It called for the disclosure of the fate of their forcibly disappeared children and their release, and at the same time, held Houthis fully responsible for the safety of their children.
