RIYADH: The King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief) has announced the launch of a rehabilitation program for 40 children who were illegally recruited by Houthi militias to fight in Yemen.
The children have been selected from areas such as Taiz and Amran, and will be provided with rehabilitation services at a center in Ma’rib governorate in Yemen.
The child soldier rehabilitation program will include psychological, social, cultural and sports services and activities spread over 30 days. Parents or next of kin will also be accommodated under the program and advised on reintegrating children into their families.
KSRelief will provide educational assistance to children who successfully complete the program to enter schools of their choice.
Since 2015, KSRelief has spent more than $262 million on child development programs through 116 projects.
In an earlier interview, Abdullah Al-Rwaily, KSRelief’s director of community support services, told Arab News that the center has organized rehabilitation for about 20,000 child soldiers in Yemen.
He said that there are four such training centers where these children are being rehabilitated.
He also called for the participation of non-governmental organizations in the programs, warning that without such aid the situation could become similar to that in Afghanistan.
KSRelief to help 40 former child soldiers
KSRelief to help 40 former child soldiers
Saudi Arabia welcomes ceasefire agreement between Syrian Democratic Forces and Syria state
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has welcomed an agreement between the Syrian state and Syrian Democratic Forces.
In a foreign ministry statement early on Monday, the Kingdom said it had welcomed an deal between Damascus and Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces that was announced by the Syrian government on Sunday.
The agreement entails merging all SDF forces into the defense and interior ministries and means that Kurdish forces will redeploy to east of the Euphrates river.
The 14-point deal would also see the immediate administrative and military handover of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates.
The Syrian state would regain control of all border crossings, oil fields, and gas fields in the region, with protection secured by regular forces to ensure the return of resources to the Syrian government, while considering the special case of Kurdish areas, the state news agency SANA reported.
The ceasefire comes after intense fighting between the SDF and government troops in Aleppo. But SDF troops have now pulled back from there and the Syrian army now controls most areas east of Aleppo.
The Saudi foreign ministry statement also thanked the US for the agreement. Washington is believed to have supported brokering the ceasefire between allies SDF and the Syrian government, who they have also backed diplomatically since the fall of long-time dictator Bashar Assad.
The Syrian state announced on Friday a raft of new directives to recognize Syrian Kurds, including making their language official and bolstering other rights for the minority group.
