Yemen is a country of origin and, to a lesser extent, transit and destination, for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor, and women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Yemen's deteriorating security situation, weakened rule of law, and deepening poverty in increased trafficking activities. As a result of Houthi expansion and eventual seizure of government institutions in late , the number of child soldiers utilized by armed groups greatly increased.
Checkpoints operated by Houthi militias and government forces are often manned by armed boys who appear to be as young as 10 years old. Some Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to the cities of Aden and Sana'a or to Saudi Arabia and, to a lesser extent, Oman β where they are subjected to forced labor in domestic service, small shops, or as beggars.
Some of these children are forced into prostitution by traffickers, security officials, and their employers upon arrival in Saudi Arabia, while others are forced to smuggle drugs into Saudi Arabia. During the reporting period, an international organization reported that a total of , Yemeni migrant workers were deported from Saudi Arabia and returned to Yemen through the al-Tuwal and al-Buq border crossings.
The majority of deportees returned to the Tihamah region located on the west coast of Yemen, among the poorest regions of the country. Many of the deportees remain displaced, without access to food, shelter, or medical services, leaving these individuals highly vulnerable to exploitation, including human trafficking. Thousands of Syrian refugees, who have relocated to Yemen to escape the protracted fighting in their home country, similarly are at risk of being subjected to human trafficking.
The Yemeni government and international NGOs estimate there are approximately 1. Yemeni children are subjected to sex trafficking within the country and in Saudi Arabia. Girls as young as 15 years old are exploited for commercial sex in hotels and clubs in the Governorates of Sana'a, Aden, and Taiz. The majority of child sex tourists in Yemen are from Saudi Arabia, with a smaller number possibly originating from other Gulf nations.
