“Your children will return to this land.“
[Apr.21.2022] The AP Correspondence reported on the 19th of April (local time) that Yemen’s Houthi rebels (Ansarullah) have agreed to stop deploying their ranks of child soldiers. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the Houthis signed what the U.N. described as an “action plan” to end and prevent recruiting or deploying children in armed conflict.
He said, one of the Houthi’s top leaders, Abdul Eluh Hajar, signed the agreement, and the rebels committed to identifying children in their ranks and releasing them within six months. The action plan includes ending the attacking schools and hospitals by the Houthis.
Virginia Gamba, the U.N.’s top official looking out for children in war zones, called the Houthis’ move “a positive and encouraging step,” but she noted that “the most difficult part of the journey for this be successful starts now”.
Yemen’s civil war erupted in 2015 and escalated into a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Recently, Arab allies helping Yemeni government forces and the rebels agreed to a two-month truce in celebration of the holy month of Islamic fasting(Ramadan).
The U.N. says nearly 3,500 children have been verified as recruited and deployed in Yemen’s civil war. However, a senior Houthi military official told The Associated Press in 2018 that the group had inducted 18,000 child soldiers into its army by then.
More than 10,200 children have been killed or maimed in the war, the U.N. says(Source: Yun Hap News).
If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.(2 Chronicles 30:9)
Thank You, God, for the Yemeni rebels agreeing to end child soldiers, paving the way for the children of this land to return from their captivity. May You intervene until the pact is put into effect so the United Nations authorities will work effectively to help young people recover from the trauma of the brutal war. May You help the child soldiers hear the gospel, and may they turn away from their sins. We pray that they come to know of Your gracious and merciful love and be restored in body and mind.
Prayer 24·365
prayer@prayer24365.org
