Child soldiers on the increase in Africa

PARIS – An increasing number of children in Africa and other places around the world are being pressed into service as soldiers, with their total number now put at around 300 000, Unicef said in a report released yesterday.

The head of the UN Children’s Fund, Carol Bellamy, and the director of its French committee, Jacques Hintzy, expressed alarm at the trend, which they told a Paris media conference had become “systematic” in some countries. Despite successive UN resolutions condemning the practice, the use of boys and girls under 18 as infantry has increased 50 per cent over the past eight years.”Children are used as combatants, messengers, porters and cooks and for forced sexual services” after being recruited or abducted, the report said.Myanmar (formerly Burma) was listed as the worst offender, with around 77 000 child soldiers believed to be active.The Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Liberia and Angola were next with, respectively, around 30 000, 16 000, 15 000 and 11 000 children involved.Other places, including Northern Ireland, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia had undetermined numbers of minors being used as soldiers, the report said.It stressed that its definition of child soldiers “includes girls and boys recruited for forced sexual purposes and/or forced marriage… therefore (it) does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or who has carried, weapons”.Hintzy said Unicef-France had launched a petition demanding that those who use child soldiers be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court, and that they be barred from travelling or holding public office.- Nampa-AFPDespite successive UN resolutions condemning the practice, the use of boys and girls under 18 as infantry has increased 50 per cent over the past eight years.”Children are used as combatants, messengers, porters and cooks and for forced sexual services” after being recruited or abducted, the report said.Myanmar (formerly Burma) was listed as the worst offender, with around 77 000 child soldiers believed to be active.The Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Liberia and Angola were next with, respectively, around 30 000, 16 000, 15 000 and 11 000 children involved.Other places, including Northern Ireland, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Nepal, the Philippines and Indonesia had undetermined numbers of minors being used as soldiers, the report said.It stressed that its definition of child soldiers “includes girls and boys recruited for forced sexual purposes and/or forced marriage… therefore (it) does not only refer to a child who is carrying, or who has carried, weapons”.Hintzy said Unicef-France had launched a petition demanding that those who use child soldiers be brought to justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court, and that they be barred from travelling or holding public office.- Nampa-AFP