More than 4.5 million children have been deprived of an education Yemen’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labor said that 2,372 schools had also been destroyed DUBAI: Yemen’s Minister of Social Affairs and Labor said more than 2 million Yemeni children are working due to the war triggered by the Houthi militia, while more than 20,000 have been recruited to fight in the war, violating international conventions and laws protecting children’s rights according to new statistics published by the ministry. More than 4.5 million children have been deprived of an education, while 1.6 million have been denied access to schools during the past two years, Dr Abtaj Al-Kamal told Yemeni News Agency. Speaking on the International Program of the Elimination of Child Labor Day, she added that 2,372 schools had also been destroyed. She said childhood in Yemen was “extremely tragic” because of the Houthi war against the people, resulting in the increase in child labor as a result of difficult economic conditions. She called on children’s rights organizations for greater efforts in the protection of Yemen’s children, as well as preventing child labor and returning children to school.