child soldiers

Mon
29
Feb
2016
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ElPais.com.co

On Wednesday the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas...

Thu
20
Jan

Two former child soldiers Sierra Leone reflect on their experiences

Two former child soldiers reflect on their experiences during Sierra Leone's brutal civil war and their lives since.

Two former child soldiers Sierra Leone reflect on their experiences
Tue
18
Jan

SNA: “Controlling Child Recruitment is Difficult”

An Education Department activity in the Department of Moral Guidance (Tawjih) in Martyr Abdul Qadir Al-Saleh Camp. Credit: Tawjih Syria.

Dozens of children are still serving within the ranks of the opposition’s Syrian National Army despite Ankara’s measures to end child recruitment

 

Syrians for Truth and Justice (STJ) verified that factions operating under the opposition’s Syrian National Army (SNA) have been recruiting children among their ranks. Field researchers with STJ obtained information and testimonies confirming that at least 20 minors are currently commissioned within the ranks of the SNA. When our researchers interviewed faction commanders, they claimed it is difficult to control child recruitment despite difficult steps taken to end the practice.

Several of the recruited minors were deployed on the front lines during Operation Peace Spring. Others were trained in military camps across Azaz and Afrin and are still carrying out the tasks they were assigned despite the SNA’s decision to demobilize all child soldiers.

Wed
22
Dec

One in eight children found at risk of becoming child soldiers

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

One in eight of the world’s children - more than 300 million - live in conflict zones where they are at risk of becoming child soldiers, the charity Save the Children warned. The Save the Children report published on 30th November said boosting school access was vital in fighting forced recruitment.

According to the report, during 2020 some 337 million children were living near armed groups and government forces that recruit children.

Nearly 200 million of them live in the world’s deadliest war zones, up 20% from 2019. 

The exact number of child soldiers is unknown, but in 2020 more than 8,500 children were recruited and used as fighters or in other roles by mostly non-state armed groups, according to U.N. data, a 10% increase from the previous year.

That number is likely to be only a fraction of actual cases, the charity’s report said. 

Wed
22
Dec

Myanmar Regime Makes Military Training Compulsory for Soldiers' Children

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Myanmar’s military has made it mandatory for children of its personnel to undergo military training as it seeks to prepare reserve forces, despite such training being against both Myanmar and international law. 

“Among the trainees are teenage children. The military has made the training mandatory for all children old enough to carry a gun. Even my child had to attend,” said a sergeant from a regional command who has now defected.   

However, Myanmar’s Child Rights Law expressly prohibits providing military training to children with the intention of using them to serve in the military, as does the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, said one child rights activist. 

Read the full story published on 07 December 2021 by The Irrawaddy here.

Wed
01
Dec

Syrian Kurds Demand End to Child Recruitment

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

Dozens of Kurdish parents and activists protested outside the United Nations offices in Qamishli, Syria, on Sunday against the recruitment of children by local military groups.

The demonstration took place after several teenage girls were reportedly recruited by groups affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military organization that has been a key U.S. ally in the battle against Islamic State.

In June 2019, the SDF signed a joint action plan with the U.N. to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children under the age of 18 in areas under its control. But the U.N. said since then, at least 160 cases have been documented.

Khaled Jabir, co-chairman of the child protection unit at the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, confirmed that his office recently received several complaints about child recruitment.

Wed
11
Aug

Human Rights Groups urged the UK military to stop recruiting under 18s

Young soldiers formed

An open letter signed by a coalition of human rights groups, including Child Rights International Network, Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Watch, urged the defence Ministry to stop recruiting children aged under 18.

The letter declared that the UK military recruits more soldiers at 16 than any other age, especially for combat infantry roles, whereas most countries around the world only allow adults to be recruited. Additionally, this recruitment practice needs to end as “figures showed that girls aged under 18 in the armed forces made at least 16 formal complaints of sexual assault to military police in the last six years” informed The Guardian in an article released in June covering the MPs debate around the Armed Forces Bill.

The joint letter also said:

Thu
15
Jul

Underage 'martyrs': Recruiting child soldiers in Yemen

Photo: Flickr Creative Commons

In Yemen, families send their children to so-called summer camps. There, adolescents are given combat training and taught why they should fight for God. Both government forces and Houthi rebels use child soldiers.

The recruitment of child soldiers is without a doubt one of the most upsetting of the many human rights violations that have been documented during Yemen's civil war.

In their annual report on Children and Armed Conflict, published in May this year, United Nations researchers counted 211 cases of children being recruited to fight in Yemen in 2020. Of these, 134 were boys and 29 were girls recruited by the Houthis.

Mon
02
Jul

Patriotic Youth Army Takes Russian Kids Back to the Future

KUBINKA, Russia — Often in Russia these days, what is old is new again or, to be more specific, what is Soviet is new again.

The Youth Army, open to both boys and girls, is a militarized throwback to the Young Pioneers of the Soviet era. Meant to instill a sense of Communist zeal, the Pioneers are mostly remembered for their summer camps.

The Youth Army jettisoned the Communist bits, emerging as a kind of hybrid version of the scouts and a reserve officers training program, with an emphasis on patriotism and national service.

The trademark red endured.

If the Pioneers knotted red scarves around their necks, members of the Youth Army sport red berets bearing a pin of the organization’s logo — the red star of the Russian Army superimposed on an eagle’s head.

Mon
07
May

5th International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth to take place between 12-18 November

On 12-18 November this year, activists from across the world are taking action against the militarisation of young people in their countries, cities and towns.

Join us this November in this global action with your own nonviolent actions and events!

The International Week of Action Against the Militarisation of Youth is a concerted effort of antimilitarist actions across the world to raise awareness of, and challenge, the ways young people are militarised, and to give voice to alternatives. The week is coordinated by War Resisters' International.

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