Al Jazeera News :
The UN has blacklisted the Arab coalition in Yemen for causing deaths and injuries to hundreds of children.
The coalition of 10 Arab countries, assembled by Saudi Arabia last year, was blamed for 60 percent of the child deaths and injuries in 2015 in air strikes that killed 510 and
wounded 667. In Friday’s report, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, called the situation on the ground “worrisome”, adding that Yemen had witnessed “six times more children killed and maimed [in 2015] compared to 2014”.
“Owing to the very large number of violations … the Houthis and the Saudi-led coalition are listed for killing and maiming and attacks on schools and hospitals,” Ban said. The report also noted a “five-fold increase in the number of children recruited [by armed groups]”. Of a list of 762 verified cases of recruitment of child soldiers, 72 percent were attributed to the Houthis, 15 percent to pro-government forces and 9 percent to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The Houthis have been on the UN blacklist for at least five years and are considered “persistent perpetrators”.
