child soldiers - The African Mirror

Jun

2021

‘Child soldiers carried out Burkina Faso massacre’

A massacre in northeast Burkina Faso in which more than 130 people were killed this month was carried out mostly by children between the ages of 12 and 14, the United Nations and the government have revealed. Armed assailants raided the village of Solhan on the evening of June 4, opened fire on residents and burned homes. It was the worst attack in years in an area plagued by jihadists linked to Islamic State and al Qaeda. Government spokesman Ousseni Tamboura said the majority of the attackers were children, prompting condemnation from the U.N. "We strongly condemn the recruitment of…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

From teaching to football, communities seen as key to ending use of child soldiers

HUMAN RIGHTS

EMELINE WUILBERCQ Listening to local communities is key to meeting a global goal of ending the use of children by armed groups by 2025, a top United Nations (U.N.) official and charities said on Thursday. Former child soldiers often face stigma when they return home and they risk being re-recruited if they cannot find food, security and support among their communities, according to experts on child soldiers. "Even when separated from armed forces and groups, children continue to struggle in regaining their place in their families and communities," the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba told…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Record $30 million compensation for Congo victims

NEWS

STEPHANIE VAN DEN BERG CHILD soldiers and other victims of convicted Congolese militia leader Bosco Ntaganda should get a total of $30 million compensation, International Criminal Court judges ruled on Monday, in their highest ever reparation order. The judges said Ntaganda did not have the resources to pay the compensation himself. Instead they asked the tribunal's own Trust Fund to help set up and finance vocational and other programmes to support victims of his crimes. Ntaganda was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2019 for murder, rape and other atrocities committed when he was military chief of the Union…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Children seen at risk of recruitment in C.A.R fighting

NEWS

EMELINE WUILBERCQ ARMED groups have recruited nearly 3,000 children in Central African Republic (CAR) since violence flared over a December 27 election result and more are at risk as aid fails to reach many people driven from their homes, aid workers said. More than 210,000 people have been uprooted by the fighting, with children increasingly vulnerable to forcible recruitment as humanitarian supplies are cut off by widespread violence and attacks on aid convoys, leaving tens of thousands in dire need. "Children are increasingly exposed to recruitment by armed men for about $30, and many carry the scars and trauma from…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Global ranks of child soldiers swell

COVID-19

EMELINE WUILBERCQ MORE children could be pushed into joining armed groups in conflict zones as families face increasing poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top U.N. official warned. The exact number of child soldiers is unknown, but in 2019 alone about 7,740 children - some as young as six - were recruited and used as fighters or in other roles by mostly non-state armed groups, according to United Nations data. Speaking on International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers - or Red Hand Day - the U.N. Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict Virginia Gamba said that number was…