ILO concern: the unbearable fate of child soldiers
Among the voiceless victims of the worst forms of child labour are child soldiers - or children who fight - for whatever reason - or provide various forms of support in conflicts. Many of these children face not only the dangers of combat, but suffer physical abuse or rape at the hands of their fellow combatants. A recent conference organized by the US Department of Labor (USDOL) in Washington highlighted the plight of child soldiers, and announced a $13 million programme to rehabilitate them - including $7 million to develop comprehensive strategies with the ILO.
WASHINGTON - "Perhaps there is no greater challenge or more pressing charge than freeing the 300,000 children who are caught in the crossfire of conflict," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia at the " Children in the Crossfire" conference organized by USDOL here on 7-8 May. "They are on the front lines; servants of strife and victims of brutality; the objects of violence and vengeance learning to kill, to harm and to destroy."
The use of child soldiers may be the worst form of child labour. More than 300,000 children are serving on the front lines in civil strife worldwide and have witnessed, or experienced, such horrors as torture, assassinations, pillage and rape, according to "Wounded Childhood," a new ILO report on the use of children under the age of 18 in armed conflict in Central Africa prepared for the Washington conference.
Appealing for an end to this practice, Mr. Somavia declared: "Instead of weapons and war, let's arm our children with opportunity and hope."
The Washington conference, hosted by US Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao, aimed to heighten the global response to the exploitation of child soldiers. Some 500 representatives of governments, non-governmental organizations and UN agencies heard testimonies from, former child warriors describing the fear, grief and violence which have marked their lives.
The report provides a horrifying litany of danger, fear, abuse and violence suffered by children in conflict around the world. Children are either incorporated into armed bands using false papers or coerced into fighting, or supporting troops. Outright abduction is frequent, especially in the countryside. Boys are used as spies and sent to the camps of regular forces to obtain information. The girls are used as domestic servants and sex slaves. Children who do fight are often massacred in combat.
"During combat, I used to say to myself that I was a tree. That way I was less afraid of dying," says Michel, a former child soldier from Rwanda.
The reasons why children become soldiers are often unclear. Although outright abduction, particularly by rebel groups, accounts for 21 per cent of the recruitment of children into armed groups, a surprising 64 per cent of the children involved said they made a personal decision to enrol. Reasons given range from material needs, fascination and prestige to ideology, the desire for revenge and the desire to get away from alienating situations at home or at school. Of the 34 per cent that justify their choice for material reasons, however, half say they took the decision under extreme psychological pressure for their immediate survival, while the other half saw a long-term means of earning a livelihood.
"I joined the militia because I thought I could get paid after the war. I knew I was risking my life but I had no other choice. My mother was finding it hard to feed us. While other youths joined the group for ideological reasons, I joined to have a job," says Sylvestre, now 18, a former child soldier and the fifth child of a fatherless family of nine from the Congo-Brazzaville.
Despite the risks involved in escaping these horrors, 41 per cent do manage to flee. In the DRC and Rwanda, many child soldiers have been demobilized or released through the intervention of relatives or organizations. Their ordeal, however, does not end when they get away.
Return to their home villages can be difficult as their communities have been victims of the conflict and see ex-combatants as responsible for the looting, torture and murder and think them capable of committing such crimes again. "Girls often have to overcome the double stigma of having participated in the conflict and of being unwed mothers. I hide my past as a soldier," says Kavira, a former DRC child soldier. "I'm 16 and the mother of a little girl... people have a bad opinion of soldiers and it's worse if one is a girl."
Are there solutions?
At the Washington conference, Mr. Somavia proposed a three-point "battle plan" to prevent and end the use of children in armed conflict. The elements include:
- Improving enforcement to go beyond conventions and laws. Awareness raising, adopting and implementing legislation in policies and practice are key elements;
- Developing practical, targeted strategies to help children overcome their trauma and prepare for a better future. These strategies include counselling, education, vocational training, assistance to parents to boost incomes and get decent jobs; and,
- A development strategy to get at the root causes. This includes promoting social and economic reconstruction poverty eradication, employment and education policies.
US Labor Secretary Chao announced that USDOL would devote a further $13 million "to help educate, rehabilitate and reintegrate former child soldiers". The initiative includes $7 million to develop comprehensive strategies with the ILO help former child soldiers in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Colombia. It also includes $3 million to help educate former child soldiers in Uganda and $3 million to educate and reintegrate child fighters in Afghanistan.
"Child soldiers cannot cry out - but we can speak up for them," Ms. Chao said. "That is why we are here today. As part of this commitment, let us also pledge ourselves to address the root causes of child soldiers, which is the absence of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms."
The US was one of the first countries to ratify The ILO Worst forms of child labour Convention No. 182 (1999) that includes a ban on the forced recruitment of children as combatants.