Yemen
Military branches:
Land Forces, Naval and Coastal Defense Forces (includes Marines), Air and Air Defense Force (al-Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-Yemeniya), Border Guards, Stategic Reserve Forces (2013)
Military service age and obligation:
18 is the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; no conscription; 2-year service obligation (2012)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16-49: 5,652,256
females age 16-49: 5,387,160 (2010 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16-49: 4,056,944
females age 16-49: 4,116,895 (2010 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 287,141
female: 277,612 (2010 est.)
Military expenditures:
country comparison to the world: 8
Military - note:
a Coast Guard was established in 2002
Transnational Issues: YEMEN
Disputes - international:
Saudi Arabia has reinforced its concrete-filled security barrier along sections of the fully demarcated border with Yemen to stem illegal cross-border activities
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 5,221 (Ethiopia) (2012); 229,447 (Somalia) (2013)
IDPs: 306,791 (conflict in Sa'ada governorate; clashes between AQAP and government forces) (2013)
Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Yemen is a source and, to a much lesser extent, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking; some Yemeni children, mostly boys, migrate to Yemeni cities or across the border to Saudi Arabia and, less frequently Oman, where they end up as forced laborers in domestic service or small shops, beggars, or prostitutes; some of the large number of child workers in Yemen also face conditions of forced labor; other Yemeni children are conscripted into the government's armed forces or tribal or rebel militias; to a lesser degree, Yemen is a country of origin for girls trafficked within country or to Saudi Arabia to work as prostitutes in hotels and clubs; additionally, Yemen is a destination and transit country for women and children from the Horn of Africa who are looking for work or have received false job offers in the Gulf states but are subjected to sexual exploitation or forced labor upon arrival; reports indicate that adults and children are still sold or inherited as slaves in Yemen
tier rating: Tier 3 - Yemen does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so; prolonged political, economic, and security crises impeded the government's modest anti-trafficking efforts; the government has not instituted formal procedures to identify and protect victims of trafficking or investigate or prosecute officials complicit in trafficking-related crimes; no known efforts have been made to investigate or punish the practice of chattel slavery; the government has taken some steps to prevent the recruitment of children in the armed forces, but it is unclear if efforts have been made to remove child soldiers from the military and provide them with protective or rehabilitative services; no progress has been made in implementing Yemen's 2008 national action plan on trafficking (2013)