Forceful recruitment of children in South Sudan concerns UNICEF
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern over forceful recruitment for battle of children by South Sudan’s government and opposition forces.
“We have received credible and in some instances verifiable information that forces aligned with the government and opposition have abducted or coerced hundreds of children into their ranks in the past month alone,” Jonathan Veitch, the UNICEF representative in South Sudan, said Friday.
The UN official added that hundreds of children have been coerced into the civil war only in February.
“Our teams on the ground and our partners are reporting a strong upsurge in recruitment at the moment and it is ongoing,” he stated.
According to a UNICEF estimate, a minimum of 12,000 children have been employed by both sides since the beginning of civil war in the world’s youngest nation in 2013.
The UNICEF representative also said the exploitation of children occurs despite the fact that the sides involved in the crisis “signed commitments to end the use of children in armed forces and armed groups.”
He also warned that the situation in the country “has become increasingly desperate for boy children in many areas of the conflict zone,” adding that the children are “being targeted (and) rounded up and sent to the frontline.”
The UN official further noted that the situation of the children is particularly dire in the states of Upper Nile and Unity.
South Sudan plunged into chaos in December 2013, when fighting erupted between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and defectors led by his former deputy, Riek Machar, around the capital, Juba. Sporadic violence still persists in parts of the country as the rebels and government blame each other for violating multiple truce agreements.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed since the start of the conflict, while 1.5 million have been displaced and 2.5 million more are reported to be in dire need of food aid in South Sudan, which declared its independence from Sudan in 2011.
IA/HSN/SS
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