The Issue
In recent armed conflict situations, the distinctions between combatants and civilians are disappearing with the increase of indiscriminate attacks against the civilian population in armed conflicts. Consequently, many children are killed, wounded, disabled, or torn apart from their families. According to UNICEF, more than 2 million children have been killed in armed conflicts between 1986 and 1996. Four to five million children have been disabled and 12 million have been left homeless.
One of the most alarming trends in armed conflict is that there is a steady increase in the use of children as soldiers. It is estimated that over 300,000 children below the age of 18, some as young as five, participate in armed conflicts in more than 30 different countries.
In Asia, military and political dictatorship, religious conflicts, communal violence, widespread poverty, and poor development have led to the militarization of the society. Tens of thousands of child soldiers have been widely deployed in armed conflicts by non-state armed groups as well as state armed forces. The worst affected countries are Afghanistan, Burma, and Sri Lanka.
In Afghanistan, since the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1979, civil war has killed about 1.7 million of people and destroyed the normal life of children. Many children have been recruited as soldiers by both the Taliban and the opposition forces. On 20 August 1999, the UN called on the Taliban and all opposition forces to stop recruiting children in the civil war.
It was reported that Burma had the world’s highest number of children in its armed forces. Since the repression of the 1988 uprising, the military junta rapidly expanded its armed forces to strengthen its control over the society. Children became the targets of recruitment. Forced recruitment was common. Most child soldiers regularly suffered physical abuse, often being beaten and abused by their senior officers. At the same time, non-state armed groups in Burma also extensively recruited children in their ranks.
In Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) use a large number of child soldiers in fighting with the Sri Lankan armed forces. There have been reports of forced recruitment of children by the LTTE. Some children are attracted by the heroic image of the LTTE or want revenge for the repression of the government. In October 1999, 49 children from the LTTE were killed by the Sri Lankan troops in a battle of Oddusudan, a town north of Colombo. The children were reportedly between 11 and 15 years of age.
(For more details, see the regional report on Asia, May 2000, produced by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, http://www.child-soldiers.org )
The Lessons
Lesson 1 : Who are the child soldiers – their work and lives
Lesson 2: Analysis: What are the rights which have been violated?
Lesson 3: Suggestions for Action
