The Issue of Child Soldiers - Term Paper Example

 The Issue of Child Soldiers Children have been subjected to violation of their potential rights in a number of ways all over the world. At times these violation of rights are in terms of child labor, deficiency of parental attention and even deployment as child soldiers. The current report aims at highlighting the issue of child soldiers and relates to the extent to which this problem is gaining pace and the measures that are being done to address the issue world over. Background The overall conditions of unrest and poverty in the world specially in nations belonging to the central African regions and other under developed countries such as Uganda, Sudan and developing nations like India, Sri Lanka ("Child Soldiers", 2) etcetera have prompted children to become subjected to all kinds of situations which are not in line with their basic needs and rights. The need to be able to earn a livelihood and support one's family in terms of earning some money for younger siblings or suffering parents made many children become part of the worldwide child soldier community. The reasons that may thus prompt a child to become a child soldier may be the thought to support a poor family, separation from family or child running away due to unfavorable living circumstances, children displaced from their homes, children living in war zones, and children who may have little or no access to education. Orphans and children from refugee camps all over the world become acute targets of being enrolled as child soldiers as well. Owing to all the above mentioned possibilities it may we be assessed that social and economic pressures are the main key behind this grave issue. Children whose families live in warzones may have lost any of their close family member and resultantly may aim to avenge this incident by adopting to becoming a child soldier themselves. " UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has condemned child soldiering as a “damaging and despicable practice” (Child Soldiers, 13) Feelings of uncertainty and insecurity prevail underdeveloped societies. Families see their and their children's' survival only if they'd be equipped with arms and would be trained to fight for their rights no matter to whatever extent of training it may involve. In addition to all this the providing of free food, clothing and lodging for their children and security are also a very attractive incentives for them. The Concept In certain societal adverse circumstances children may be forced to join armed forces. If they resist they may be threatened to be killed. ("Why do Children Become Soldiers?", n.p.). Child soldiers are not part of mainly the official armies of nations but are rather recruited on a regular basis by armed political groups who need fresh blood and energetic individuals at a very rapid rate. The numbers of recruits are in tens and thousands and their recruitments are both legal and forcible. As a part of their training these poor recruits are subject to all kinds of non-ethical behaviors such as rape, violence, hard labor and other forms of exploitation as well as being trained to use all sorts of weapons under the harshest of survival conditions. ("Child Soldiers" 13) The experiencing of harsh and violent conditions at one's own hands and at such a trivial age result at the undermining of humanity in the child's conscience. The resultant is that these child soldiers become deprived in the ability to develop strong trusting relationships among human beings. (Aaron, 19) The concept of Small arms Advancements and sophistications in technology have resulted in the production of sophisticated weaponry that are lightweight and whose usability is enhanced. These light weight weapons are often termed as small arms and are very convenient when considered for being used by children. Youngsters are naturally less aware of the consequences of their choices and actions and therefore tend to use the weaponry void of any fear. The small arms, instead of benefitting humanity are becoming more of a menace for the under developed societies. These small arms are handed over to the child soldiers who fearless operated them during any encounter they may have to face. A report issued by the Human Rights watch, in the year 2004, confirmed that there was a direct relationship between the small arms and the increasing number of child soldiers (London, 1). The grave effects of small armory and the expansion of this trade internationally has been criticized severely by Civil societies and the execution of a movement to curb the trade and its resulting consequences is stressed. It is being stressed that the small arms trade is benefitting only the elite class which governs nations globally. This governance is irrespective of the price others are having to pay in the form of directly proportional increase of child soldier ratio. (London, 3) Being a Child Soldier: The Aftermath Describing the state of the child soldiers in the Republic of Congo Lucille Gretry mentions that continuous and widespread civil unrest in the state resulted in rapid increase in the number of child soldiers in the state. The author of "Child soldiers: our representation challenged by their reality", Lucille Gretry narrates a study and research carried out to evaluate the issue of child soldiers in Congo. Several ex-soldiers and adults up to the age of 28 were questioned face to face but indirectly, put under observation and made part of informal group discussions. The results are used to evaluate that while theoretical concepts consider childhood as being subservient to adulthood the practical state of the African states was in fact the opposite. The states of Congo and other African states practically emphasized the stature of children as independent players of the society who had their own say. (Gretry, 591) This version of children living in Africa is being considered as vulnerable and passive. The reversion of child soldiers to normal life may become convenient if access to vocational training and education is ensured. Rehabilitating Ex-Soldiers and Child slaves While the earlier discussion of study by Lucille Gretry (2011) addressed a similar notion of ex-child soldiers and the extent of their rehabilitation the study revolved around the Democratic republic of Congo. The current study at hand has been done with reference to Sudan and the rehabilitation of Ex-Soldiers and Child slaves in within them. The first half century of independence that Sudan spent was brutal resulting in almost no possibility of raising children normally. The prospects of rehabilitating the soldiers and children is an integral issue. Fegely (40) stresses the need for the implementation of ex-soldier rehabilitation programs as they have been successfully implemented in countries like the UAE, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Certain African regions and Western Ghana. To discuss the latter first, the young girls who were given as slaves to priests and then sent back after a certain period of time were begun to be trained for many vocational tasks so that they could then make a living of their own. Fegley (41) discusses the grave issue of Child soldiers which is very prevalent in Sudan and narrates: "This represents three-quarters of the world’s armed conflicts. Another 500,000 children worldwide may be in paramilitary organizations. While the country with the most child soldiers is Burma (approx. 70,000), Africa’s share of child soldiers totals over 120,000." UNICEF’s Child Soldiers Demobilization and Reintegration Program in Afghanistan has been successful holds the credit of demobilizing around 4000 boys aged between 13 to 17 years in the year 2004. "Preventative strategies aimed at reducing child volunteerism include interventions aimed at structural reform, interventions aimed at changing perceptions of the value of participation held by children and those around them, interventions that counter children’s feelings of helplessness, vulnerability, and frustration, and demobilization." (Mulira, 23) Using Child Soldiers in the Uganda War Northern Uganda has for long been known as a hub of child soldiers and their recruitment centers. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a resistance group in Uganda has recruited around 30,000 child soldiers in the past twenty years owing to civil war. (Aaron, 21)The strategies being deployed in Uganda for the rehabilitation of child soldiers in cooperation with NGOs, government and other International Organizations have been discussed as under: Centralized Approach Involving National Government Strategies debriefs children who have been rescued from their captivators or who have run away. These children are debriefed and made to undergo specialized training before they are eventually reunited with their families. One apprehension that however does exist in this case is that since the government itself is a partner in the ongoing civil war it may try to take advantage of the training that these children have been subjected to and may try to recruit them for their own combat purposes. Community based approach involving international organizations and NGOs strategically acts parallel to the government based approach for rehabilitation and attempts to safeguard the child soldiers. The NGOs try to find the families of the ex-child soldiers and try to blend the children back into their communities. This community based approach has been proved to be more result oriented since the cultural and social factors surrounding the reunion are being taken care of in it. Suggested Strategies of Restricting Child Soldiers in Uganda -Bringing an end to civil war Prevention of recruitment Identifying mechanism of child soldiers to be improved Rehabilitating, reintegrating and Demobilizing of ex- child soldiers (Aaron, 22) Laws Governing Child Soldiers Susan Tiefenbrun, in her work " CHILD SOLDIERS, SLAVERY AND THE TRAFFICKING OF CHILDREN" mentions laws relative to the use of child soldiers. 1. Declaration of the Rights of the Child. 2. International legal Instruments that Specifically Protect Children. a. The declaration of the rights of the child b. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child c. Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict d. Optional Protocol on the Sale of children, Prostitution and pornography 3. International Humanitarian Laws and the protection of children. 4. Domestic and International Human Trafficking Laws (Tiefenbrun, 441-479) Despite the presence of straight targeting domestic and international laws that prevent and strictly restrain child soldiers and other negligence of child rights it is extremely inhuman that such activities continue to exist and flourish. Latest on Child Soldiers Latest on child soldiers is presented by the Disarmament committee's Briefing Paper 1. 2012 The paper mentions a protocol which has been signed by 129 countries upto the year 2012 which also marked two decades of its promulgation. This protocol restricts the least age of a military recruit to be eighteen. It gives rights to the International Court of Justice to trial anyone who does not abide by the protocol and recruits underage personnel for military recruitment. " In 2009 the Special Court for Sierra Leone convicted three individuals for a range of crimes, including the use of child soldiers. In 2012 former Liberian President Charles Taylor was convicted of a number of crimes, including the use of child soldiers; he was sentenced to 50 years in prison." (Disarmament committee's Briefing Paper 1) Summary Child soldiers are a characteristic phenomenon of the third world countries specially the developing nations of Sudan, Uganda and Central Africa. The civil wars and the situations of social unrest within societies lead to economic and social downfalls of nations. It is under such circumstances that children are forced to leave their conventional natural upbringing and become part of combat by getting themselves willingly or unwillingly enrolled in military which may be official or unofficial. Once part of the soldier community these children become subject to unjustified behavior and unethical situations that are intended to train them for adverse situations and combats. Advancements in technology of making weapons has made their newest ranges as light and very less complicated. Termed often as the small arms these weapons are made as if being intended to be operated by children. The convenient availability of these small arms and the flourishing of their trade specially in under developed nations is considered to be directly proportional to the growing trend of child soldier recruitment. Several international and domestic laws have been made to restrict child soldier trend but none of them are promulgated and followed. It is the need of the hour that government agencies as well as international organizations and NGOs should act in combination to restrict recruitment as child soldiers and to rehabilitate any children who may have escaped and come back from their captivities. WORKS CITED: Aaron, Edited By. "Preventing, Demobilizing, Rehabilitating, and Reintegrating Child Soldiers in African Conflicts." "Child Soldiers". Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. 2004. Web. 4 Feb. 2013 Derluyn, Ilse, et al. "Post-traumatic stress in former Ugandan child soldiers."The Lancet 363.9412 (2004): 861-863. De Berry, Jo. "Child Soldiers and the Convention on the Rights of the Child."The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 575.1 (2001): 92-105. "Disarmament committee's Briefing Paper 1". n.d. "Effective Reintegration Of Female Child Soldiers : Reality Or Rhetoric? Case Study Of Northern Uganda." (2006):OAIster. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. FEGLEY, RANDALL. "Comparative Perspectives On The Rehabilitation Of Ex-Slaves And Former Child Soldiers With Special Reference To Sudan." African Studies Quarterly 10.1 (2008): 35-69. Political Science Complete. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. "International Legal Standards Governing The Use Of Child Soldiers." (2007): OAIster. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. London, Tracy. "Small arms and corporate social responsibility: Emerging International Norms and a Program for Advocacy." Ploughshares Working Paper. (2005) 1-17. Mulira, Dorcas B. "International legal standards governing the use of child soldiers." (2007). Tiefenbrun, Susan. The Culture Of Violence: Child Soldiers, Slavery, And The Trafficking Of Children. n.p.: Oxford University Press, 2010. Oxford Scholarship Online. Web. 4 Feb. 2013. "Why do Children Become Soldiers?", The use of Child Soldiers Must Stop. , n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2013 Read More