child soldiers

Mon
29
Feb
2016
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ElPais.com.co

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

Fri
10
Apr

One third of combatants in Yemen are children: UNICEF

Photo: AP

The United Nations Children's Fund has expressed concern over the use of large number of child fighters by armed groups in Yemen. 

"Up to a third of combatants in armed groups in conflict-torn Yemen are children...I have been myself held up at checkpoints by children who were 14, 15 and sometimes even little younger," UNICEF's Representative in Yemen Julien Harneis told The Anadolu Agency in Geneva.

Motivated by money and with the aim of defending families or tribes as part of their culture in the poorest country of the Middle East, an increasing number of children are being recruited by Yemen's warring factions.

"It is a cultural issue...In Yemen, in many parts of the country, it is considered to be normal, if not a good thing, to pick up a gun and be able to contribute to the defense of your family and tribe," Harneis said.

Wed
01
Apr

At least 62 children killed in Yemen in past week: UNICEF

Photo: Reuters

The violence is leaving children terrified and more of them are being recruited as child soldiers, UNICEF said.

At least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured in Yemen over the past week as fighting has escalated with a Saudi-led air campaign, the UN children's agency UNICEF said Tuesday.

"Children are in desperate need of protection, and all parties to the conflict should do all in their power to keep children safe," said UNICEF's representative for Yemen, Julien Harneis.

Fighting has escalated sharply in Yemen after a Saudi-led coalition launched air strikes five days ago to block an advance by Shiite rebels know as Huthis.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon separately said he was "deeply concerned" by reports of numerous civilian deaths from the military campaign including an attack on Monday on a camp for displaced people that left dozens dead.

Tue
31
Mar

S. Sudan army admits recruiting children into armed services

Photo: AFP

In February, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) team reported that 89 children were abducted while doing exams, but said the actual number could be much higher.

The South Sudanese army (SPLA) has admitted forcefully recruiting children into its armed ranks in Upper Nile state, but claimed they were returned to their respective homes.

Army spokesperson Col. Philip Aguer told Sudan Tribune the military leadership directed the department of child protection to carry out joint investigation and found only 36 children in the army.

He however added that these children were successfully reunited with their parents.

Fri
27
Mar

More than 15 million children directly affected by violence in 2014

Photo: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

During a Security Council meeting on children in armed conflicts, UN officials urged today protection for the war's youngest victims.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the UN 15-member body that "increasingly, children are snatched from a normal life of school and family, abducted by armed groups and thrown into a life of violence and horror."

He added "from north-eastern Nigeria, to Iraq, from South Sudan to Syria, we have witnessed a wave of such abductions used to terrorize and humiliate entire communities."

He also noted that last year was considered one of the worst ever for children in areas affected by conflict, with up to 15 million children directly affected by the violence.

Thu
26
Mar

IS 'trains hundreds of child soldiers in Syria'

The Islamic State group has trained more than 400 children in Syria as fighters in 2015 alone, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor said Tuesday.

Calling them “Cubs of the Caliphate,” the jihadist group provides intense military and religious training to children throughout its areas of control in Syria, the Britain-based monitor said. Sleek videos published by I.S.-affiliated accounts show boys—some appearing to be as young as eight years old—loading and firing guns and crawling through sandy brush as part of military training. The footage also shows children gathered around a table studying religious texts.

Tue
24
Mar

Nine-year-old girl in record release of South Sudan child soldiers

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - A nine-year-old girl was among hundreds of child soldiers freed in South Sudan over the last three days, part of the largest ever release of child fighters in the world's youngest nation, the United Nations said on Monday.

It is the third release by the South Sudan Democratic Army (SSDA) Cobra Faction since its leader David Yau Yau signed a peace deal with the government in May.

Read more at Reuters

Image: Afronline

Tue
17
Mar

Pakistan: Children in FATA: How to stop the making of child soldiers

ISLAMABAD: Keeping in view the state of children in the federally administered tribal areas (Fata), Unicef has recommended to the federal government to repeal Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) 1901. The recommendation states that constitutional amendments be made to bring Fata into the mainstream of the country. One of the most vital measures would be to repeal the FCR and introduce a more humane law to deal with adult criminals, separating them from child offenders, and enforcing the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) 2000 for the benefit of child offenders.

Unicef, in collaboration with the Commissioner for Children’s Complaints, Federal Ombudsman, Islamabad, in its comprehensive report on the state of children in Pakistan has also made 19 recommendations to improve the conditions of Fata’s children. “This is perhaps the first time that Fata’s children have been discussed in some detail,” the study claimed.

Fri
27
Feb

Isis releases video of child soldiers training for jihad in Syria camp for 'cubs of the caliphate'

Isis has released a new propaganda video claiming to show a terror training camp for children dubbed jihadist “cubs”.

Around 80 boys are seen standing in formation in a courtyard as they perform exercises and chant “Allahu Akbar!” to a commander’s orders.

They are dressed in combat gear and wearing black headbands styled after the militant group’s black flag.

Read the rest of the article at The Independent

 

Tue
24
Feb

Local-born doctor: Military structures young lives

Asia Burns, left, and Arlonzo Chism stand in formation during ROTC at Woodlawn High School. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith/The Times)

A former Shreveporter who left a troubled family here to serve as a combat medic in Iraq, and who later served as a new doctor combating Ebola in west Africa, will speak in his home town later this week and sign copies of his new book.

"My mom was in prison most of my life, and my sister did time," says Antonio Webb, 32, who now is in his residency as an orthopedic surgeon in San Antonio, Texas. He grew up in the Allendale, Queensborough and Meadows neighborhood off Jewella Avenue.

"My dad did the best he could as a single parent to keep us isolated from what was going on. I was lucky in that I left Shreveport at an early age, 17, after I graduated from high school. If I'd have stayed in Shreveport there would have been a different outcome."

Mon
16
Feb

FARC bans recruitment of child soldiers

Colombia’s largest rebel group, the FARC, vowed on Thursday to immediately and indefinitely ban the recruitment of child soldiers.

Until now, the FARC have formally only allowed the incorporation of recruits who are 15 and older. However, international humanitarian law dictates that no minor can take part in military activity.

To comply with international humanitarian law, the FARC announced to “no longer incorporate, from today on, minors of 17 [and younger] in the guerrilla ranks.”

The presumably ongoing recruitment of minors was a thorn in the flesh of human rights organizations and critics of the peace talks, who have been demanding the FARC to expand an earlier imposed unilateral ceasefire with abandoning the use of child soldiers and land mines.

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