1 / 10

The Use of Child Soldiers in Contemporary Conflicts

The Use of Child Soldiers in Contemporary Conflicts. Child Soldiers in Active Combat. Reasons for recruitment: Uniquely vulnerable Easily trained and intimidated Cheap and abundant labour force Ability to absorb new indentities War ‘games’ Elevated levels of brutality

nhung
Télécharger la présentation

The Use of Child Soldiers in Contemporary Conflicts

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Use of Child Soldiers in Contemporary Conflicts

  2. Child Soldiers in Active Combat • Reasons for recruitment: • Uniquely vulnerable • Easily trained and intimidated • Cheap and abundant labour force • Ability to absorb new indentities • War ‘games’ • Elevated levels of brutality • Reluctance of troops to attack children • End of Cold War resulted in abundance of small, light weapons that are easily used and carried by children

  3. Recruitment • Kidnapping and abduction • Refugee camps • From schools • From streets / homeless • Child soldiers re-recruited into other conflicts • Enticements offered by rebel groups: • Education • Food • Security • Parents ‘volunteer’ children in exchange for food/ security • Familial environment • Sense of power • Revenge

  4. 300,000 children associated with armed combat • 10% are in direct combat • Northern Uganda • 8,000 children abducted between 2002 – 2003 • DRC • Approx 90% of armed forces under 18 years of age • Burma/ Myanmar • 70,000 child soldiers within National Army • Those as young as 12 routinely sent into battle • Sudan • Militias supported by the government are currently using 20,000 child soldiers within their ranks. (Becker, 2007)

  5. Duties of Child Combatants • Human shields • Mine detectors • Initial wave of attackers / ‘cannon fodder’ • Guerilla warfare • Killings • Torture • Execution of colleagues attempting to escape • Forced rape • Forced destruction of home towns/ villiages to cut social ties • Mutilation

  6. Reconciliation • Reintegration into community • Re-establishing social structures • Education • Dealing with stigmatisation • Fear • Pregnancy • Mutilation • Knowledge of actions during conflict

  7. Local approaches v international approaches • Involving the entire community v isolated rehabilitation centres • Importance of local customs and traditions • Spirit mediums • Local chiefs • Religious beliefs

  8. Mozambique and Liberia as Case Studies • Similar Conflicts • Different outcomes for former child soldiers • Mozambique • Community based reconcilitation • Focus on involving family members • Incorporation of cultural beliefs • Government funded programmes • Emphasis on ‘cleansing’ and the future • Successful? • Liberia • National programmes of rehabilitation • Focus on skills and education • Government and EU funded programmes • Emphasis on atonement • Unsuccessful?

  9. Conclusion • Effect of combat on children

  10. Bibliography • BECKER, J 2007 Children as Weapons of War http://www.hrw.org/legacy/wr2k4/ download/11.pdf • COLLINS, A (Ed) 2007 Contemporary Security Studies Oxford: Oxford University Press • HONWANA, A 1999 Negotiating Post-War Identities: Child Soldiers in Mozambique and Angola Codesria Bulletin:http://medico-international.de • MORAN, M and PITCHER, M 2004 The ‘Basket Case’ and the ‘Poster Child’: Explaining the End of Civil Conflicts in Liberia and Mozambique Third World Quarterly 3 501 – 519 • HICK, S 2001 The Political Economy of War-Affected Children Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 575 106-121 • BENNETT, TW. 1998 Using Children in Armed Combat: A Legitimate African Tradition? Institute for Security Studies Monograph 32

More Related