Being poor, displaced , separated from their families or living in a combat zone can make children particularly vulnerable to being recruited. Armed groups target children for several reasons. They are easier to manipulate, they don’t need much food and they don’t have a highly developed sense of danger.
What is the purpose of child soldiers?
Child soldiers are any children under the age of 18 who are recruited by a state or non-state armed group and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes .
Why are child soldiers important?
Thousands of children are serving as soldiers in armed conflicts around the world . These boys and girls, some as young as 8 years old, serve in government forces and armed opposition groups. They may fight on the front lines, participate in suicide missions, and act as spies, messengers, or lookouts.
What is the impact of child soldiers?
Psychological suffering. Children are exposed to situations of terror and horror during war – experiences that may leave enduring impacts in posttraumatic stress disorder. Severe losses and disruptions in their lives lead to high rates of depression and anxiety in war-affected children.
Which country has the most child soldiers?
The Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Syria and Yemen currently have the largest number of child soldiers.
Why is child soldiers a problem?
Regardless of how children are recruited and of their roles, child soldiers are victims, whose participation in conflict bears serious implications for their physical and emotional well-being. They are commonly subject to abuse and most of them witness death, killing, and sexual violence.
How many child soldiers died 2020?
The most violations in 2020 were committed in Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. It verified that 8,521 children were used as soldiers last year, while another 2,674 children were killed and 5,748 injured in various conflicts.
Can you shoot a child soldier?
The fact that a child soldier can be a combatant or a civilian taking direct part in hostilities implies that this child soldier can be directly targeted . The conclusion that it is lawful to directly target child soldiers does not necessarily entail that it is lawful to target them as if they were adult soldiers.
Why children are used in war?
Child soldiers are also easier to manipulate and force into conflict . ... In many cases, children participate directly in conflict, but they can also be used for other dangerous support roles. Many are porters who carry heavy loads of ammunition or injured soldiers, while others are lookouts or cooks.
Poor sense of belonging or lack of familial relationships
In times of uncertainty or displacement due to armed conflict, children often leave school, their homes, villages and even countries. These circumstances can lead to a sense of isolation.
How does war affect children’s lives?
The loss of basic resources. Armed conflict destroys the basic necessities of life : schools, health care, adequate shelter, water and food. That makes it difficult for communities to give children an environment that fosters healthy cognitive and social development. Disrupted family relationships.
How are child soldiers affected mentally?
Among war-affected children, child soldiers are more likely to endure harsher psychological consequences, such as PTSD, major depression, hostility, sadness, self-confidence and inability to cope with daily life .
What country has the youngest military?
In the East Asian country of Laos , the minimum age for compulsory military service is 15 years.
Who was the youngest child soldier?
At the young age of eight, Momčilo joined the Serbian fighting lines to become WWI’s youngest soldier. The brave soul was born on May 1, 1906 in a village in Loznica west of Serbia. Momčilo was the eighth sibling between 11 others.
What are child soldiers called?
Often referred to as “child soldiers,” these boys and girls suffer extensive forms of exploitation and abuse that are not fully captured by that term. Warring parties use children not only as fighters, but as scouts, cooks, porters, guards, messengers and more.
How are child soldiers brainwashed?
By night his troops abduct children from their parents, frog march them to training camps, hand them a gun and force them to fight. “The children are brainwashed. They are forced to kill their own relatives and shoot fellow soldiers who try to escape ,” Father Carlos Rodriguez Soto, a Spanish missionary in Gulu, said.
