30/07/2026
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, which falls today each year, we remember Yemen's pioneering efforts before the coup: a national committee was formed with all government entities, a draft law was prepared, cadres were trained, and specialized civil society organizations were launched. However, the Houthis erased all of that, taking us back to pre-zero, and even turned human trafficking into a tool of governance and a weapon of war.
The militia did not stop at recruiting children and sending them to die, nor at cutting salaries and forcing millions to work against their will. They turned human beings into cheap commodities. They abduct women, drag young men to the front lines of death, and rule with brute force, iron, and fire. They practice ruthless oppression, establishing secret prisons, shutting down schools, and turning them into military camps to indoctrinate children with a culture of death. This is not just a gang; it is a de facto authority that practices human trafficking as a daily routine to cement its grip on power.
The numbers strike like thunderbolts: 90% of Yemenis live below the poverty line, 7 million are displaced or refugees, one million employees have been unpaid for years, and 3 million children are out of school. These figures don't just reflect poverty—they mean the vast majority are either actual trafficking victims or easy prey waiting to fall into its snare with the first attempt to flee or migrate irregularly.
This organized crime committed by the militia against the Yemeni people qualifies Yemen, by every measure, as one of the worst global hotspots for human trafficking. The international community's silence and attempts to normalize this reality are nothing short of complicity that prolongs this tragedy. Dear Yemeni, if you are not a victim today, you are a candidate for it tomorrow. That is the heart of the danger threatening our very existence and our future.
