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On November 14, 2024, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an article[1] reporting that Yemen's Iran-backed Ansar Allah Movement (the Houthis) had enrolled "hundreds" of African immigrants in Houthi military mobilization camps in the capital Sanaa and its outskirts, as part of "recruitment campaigns targeting all groups" aimed at bolstering the group's fighting for the "liberation" of Palestine. According to the article, the group has sent over 220 such immigrants in recent days, including children and the elderly, to "secret military courses" in the region under the title "Al-Aqsa Flood." The information was attributed to "informed Yemeni sources."
The article detailed that the Houthis engaged in "persecution, kidnapping, attraction, and brainwashing operations" to recruit new operatives for the group's military courses. It noted that the African immigrants recently recruited had been previously captured and transferred from Yemen's Sa'dah governorate, "the group's main stronghold," to military training camps established "away from the monitoring and supervision of international organizations."
The sources accused the Houthis of "bargaining" with some immigrants, forcing them to choose between joining the group's military efforts or being deported to areas under the Yemeni government's control. They also claimed that the "targeting" of immigrants came following instructions from Houthi leader Abdulmalik Badreddine Al-Houthi.
3,480 Immigrants Arrested, Transferred To Sanaa Since Beginning Of 2024
The article noted that the Houthi Security Media Center had acknowledged conducting "persecution campaigns" against African immigrants in Sa'dah, which led to the arrest of 1,694 within one month and their transfer to "detention centers," some of which belong to the group's "Immigration Authority." It added that according to reports from Houthi security apparatuses in Sanaa, Houthi campaigns have resulted in the arrest of more than 3,480 immigrants in Sa'dah and their transfer to Sanaa since the beginning of 2024.
The Saudi daily cited "Yemeni activists" who had previously claimed that the Houthis established two new military training camps for African immigrants, one in Sa'dah and the other in the western 'Abs district of the country's Hajjah governorate. The recruits in those camps were allegedly intended to join the group's battlefronts and fulfill "intelligence missions."
An August 30, 2023 report by the Yemeni Network for Rights and Freedoms accused the Houthis of "forcibly disappearing" nearly 2,406 Yemenis of various groups and ages, as well as 382 African refugees from 17 governorates between January 1, 2017 and mid-2023.[2]
In a November 14 address, Houthi leader Abdulmalik Badreddine Al-Houthi emphasized that the group would not abandon its commitment to the war against Israel.[3]
