Introduction
Child Soldiers Role in Warfare
Conclusion
Ways in which children soldiers have been used for warfare
Introduction
Child soldiers are extremely common in developing nations where there is political, economical, and social instability (Tiefenbrun 421). The formation of new international laws has not been able to curb child soldiering completely. Children have been used as child soldiers in the last couple of centuries. According to Rosen (1), approximately between 250,000 and 300,000 child soldiers are being used in wars around the world at any given time. In 2004, the rebels and the government of Liberia were accused of using approximately 15,000 child soldiers (Begley 616). Cases of children being kidnapped, sexually abused and being forced to fight are quite common in these scenarios. The Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda abducted approximately 5000 children between 2002 and 2003 (Begley 617).
Before the mid twentieth century, armies recruited children into their ranks. Child soldiers have been involved in the first and second world wars. According to Rosen (3), children were used during the American Civil War in the nineteenth century. This was because most armies were comprised of citizen armies. However, the use of professional armies has helped in reducing of the use of child soldiers. Child soldiers consist of underage children who either carry weapons or are involved in other non-combat activities such as cooking, but live in danger of military action (Dupuy and Peters 68).
In recent times, child soldiers are being recruited into rebel and militant groups. For instance, in Asia groups such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Islamic separatist groups in the southern Philippines are recruiting child soldiers (Rosen 2). In Burma, the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karenni Army recruit child soldiers. In countries such as Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is responsible for most of the recruitment of child soldiers (Rosen 2). The children are targeted owing to their gullibility.
Recruitment of child soldiers may be voluntary or through coercion. Cases of coercion have resulted to abduction. People tend to think that a majority of the child soldiers has been forced to become fighters. However, investigations on the participation of child soldiers in warfare indicate that most underage fighters have become child soldiers voluntarily (Dupuy and Peters 63). Those who decide to join voluntarily may have been brainwashed into believing ideologies that promise their liberation. The rebel groups in the Islamic nations use brainwashing to convince teenagers to become suicide bombers to receive spiritual rewards. Initiation of child soldiers involves terrifying inhumane acts such as the children being forced to kill their relatives or rape them (Tiefenbrun 425).
Child Soldiers Role in Warfare
Girls in armed groups may be used as fighters or offer support roles such as cooking and cleaning. According to Wessell (97), girl soldiers in areas such as Mozambique in the FRELIMO (Liberation Front of Mozambique) and RENAMO (Mozambique National Resistance) were used as spies’, fighters, intelligence officers, trainers, medics, weapons experts, and laborers. The FRELIMO and RENAMO forced captured children to kill their family members in front of the whole village (Dupuy and Peters 66). Further, some of the girls were used as sex slaves. Cases offering entertainment are also evident. In Angola, for instance, girls were forced to dance all night as a way of disrupting the armed men of thoughts of their civilian and home life (Wessell 97). In countries such as Sierra Leone RUF (Revolutionary United Front), girls were used as spies since they can easily move from one local market to the next (Wessells 97). Some of the girls, still at a young age were used as wives of the commanders and thus were required to perform their maternal duties in case they had children. The Lord’s Resistance Army, in Uganda, kidnapped thousands of children and trained them to be fighters. The girls in this case were used as servants and sex slaves (Stock 555). In a country such as Palestinian, the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad used children as suicide terrorists during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Rosen 3). According to Wessells (81), teenage suicide bombers believe that their martyrdom will bring them spiritual rewards.
Child soldiers are also used as porters of ammunition during combat (Dupuy and Peters 68). The Maoist rebel group in Nepal used children soldiers to carry provisions and ammunition to the frontlines (Begley 616). In Sri Lanka, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) has recruited children aged eleven years as fighters (Begley 616). Even during the Rwandan genocide, children were used to kill other children. In addition, the children stole property and were used to search for places where people were hiding so that they would be killed (Begley 616). These children normally perform different roles when they return to their base. Mostly the porters of ammunition serve as cooks at the base camp. Child fighters do not necessarily begin as fighters. Initially they perform supportive roles of cooking before being promoted to be fighters. Additionally, some of the children serve as guards at checkpoints set up by their armies (Dupuy and Peters 69). This is normally the case where the old soldiers at checkpoints want to rest. One of the reasons the militant groups and rebels have used child soldiers is because people are less likely to suspect a child of committing acts of violence such as killing. The likelihood of soldiers suspecting that a child is a spy is minimal, thus the child can obtain critical information such as movement and operation of the opposing forces, which they report to their base camp for purposes of planning attacks. Girls are normally preferred as spies as they raise little suspicion (Dupuy and Peters 72). Commanders in most cases use the girl soldiers, mostly virgins to satisfy their sexual needs. In certain rebel and militant groups, girl soldiers are recruited for the sole purpose of providing sexual services to the soldiers (Dupuy and Peters 72).
Conclusion
The use of child soldiers in warfare has resulted to deaths of children reaching millions. Further, it has contributed to having detrimental effects to the lives of the children after warfare. Using of child soldiers in warfare has contributed to increased child abuse. The children once abducted may be forced to indulge in drug abuse as a means of training to cope with warfare (Tiefenbrun 423). The drugs are used to make the children fearless. Both the boy child and the girl child suffer sexual abuse at the hands of the older soldiers. The child soldiers continue to be used in this rebel and militant armies, which have resulted to use fear to keep the children from escaping. Consequences of death if one escapes are an example of a strategy that is used by the rebel groups.
Works Cited
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