Child Soldiering Report

Political strife has been always present on an international scale with surges of civil war due to government overthrow, sending nations into unrest. Although not common recently, the ideology of recruiting child soldiers still remains, and the lasting effects on the children are traumatizing. From witnessing the carnage of constant bombshells erupting in the distance to whole families being executed, the images are etched deep into their minds, haunting them even after they are discharged from the armies. Although putting an immediate end to child soldiers is unrealistic, the United States should aid in creating and training members of war-affected countries to run long-lasting Rehabilitation centers due to the unqualified and ineffective

The use of child soldiers have become a normal contribution to armies, especially in countries such as Africa. Although, countries such as Afghanistan, India, and Libya have been using child soldiers since 2011. According to “Children in Conflict: Child Soldiers,” there has been 36 countries involved since 1998. Something needs to be done about this issue due to the fact that thousands of

Recently, two million children have died over the past ten years due to becoming a child soldier. A huge deplorable development that has extended recently is the increase of child soldiers. Children are constantly being used as soldiers for various reasons. In some countries, there are more child soldiers than they are adults because children are more compliant. Children have been exploited as soldiers because they are being recruited to do a violent action, it is difficult for them to, later on, assimilate back to their lives, and child soldiers are regularly used in developing countries.

These are the words of a 15-year-old girl in Uganda. Like her, there are an estimated 300,000 children under the age of eighteen who are serving as child soldiers in about thirty-six conflict zones (Shaikh). Life on the front lines often brings children face to face with the horrors of war. Too many children have personally experienced or witnessed physical violence, including executions, death squad killings, disappearances, torture, arrest, sexual abuse, bombings, forced displacement, destruction of home, and massacres. Over the past ten years,

Child Soldiers is a major global issue which is affecting todays 21st century. Many Countries around the world are illegally operating child soldiers such as Burma and Sierra Leone currently there is a crisis as many more children are being subject to this cruel act. Many world media and Non-governmental organisations such as the guardian and Human rights watch have reported thousands of child soldiers in Myanmar Burma. The Convention on the rights of a child and the Universal declaration of human rights strictly prohibits children in armed conflict further the United Nations further prohibits children in armed conflicts. The International Criminal Court has previously dealt with Thomas Labunga a leader of the liberation forces of the Congo whom used children as young as 10 in his military . However these measures have not been effective as there are still children in conflict due to state sovereignty.

Worldwide, the use of child soldiers is a huge issue. Today, there are over 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. Every one of these soldiers are heavily armed and dangerous. They have been becoming a threat to America and the world. No matter their age, they have done terrible thing in behalf of terrible causes. Even as America continues to bring these kids to back in hope to rescue them, most if not all attempts to civilize them have failed. These kids have been swindled, drugged and brainwashed. There is simply no hope for them to return to their right mind.

The case of Thomas Lubango Dyilo 2006, further exemplifies the breaches of the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child (1989) (CROC) and the 1949 Geneva Conventions. Thomas became the first person ever arrested under a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He was accused of conscripting child soldiers under the age of 15 in armed conflicts during 2002 and 2003. It breached one of the most important international human rights treaties, CROC, as Article 38 clearly states the minimum age of recruitment as 15 and creates responsibilities to prevent and reduce harm to all children partaking in these armed conflicts. In addition, according to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), it is estimated that approximately 300 000 children today are involved in more than 30 conflicts as child soldiers worldwide in countries such as Sudan and Uganda either through force or sexual exploitation. This effectively breaches the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (1999), which prohibits the forced or compulsory recruitment of children under the age of 18 as it is one of the worst forms of child labour. Hence, there are both domestic and international laws that have been breached in relation to child

Kassie Cordier Child Soldiers In discussions of child soldiers, one controversial issue has been if they should be granted amnesty for killing people. On the one hand, people who believe child soldiers are harmful argue that they should be prosecuted. On the other hand, people who think they were forced into fighting contend that they shouldn’t be prosecuted. The fact that they killed people, might kill more people and we shouldn’t promoting child soldiers has made the best option of dealing with them to not grant child soldiers amnesty.

The issue of child soldiery is a social issue that plagues society on a global scale. For instance, The Global Report 2008 which was edited by UNICEF and Child Soldiers Global Institution reported that 19 countries and territories employed children in government forces as well as non-state armed groups. Some countries include Iraq, Sudan, Uganda, and Somalia (Deak, 2013, p. 1). It is impossible to state the exact number of child soldiers around the world; however, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations estimate that that there are about 250,000 to 300,000 child soldiers (Szijj, 2010, p.4) It is evident that that child soldiery is an epidemic thus, I will investigate what social and political factors are responsible

One injustice facing the world today is the use of child soldiers. According to child-soldiers.org, a child soldier is “any person below eighteen years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity…” Child soldiers do not only include the combatants. There are also child soldiers in noncombatant positions. The most dreadful injustice is having child soldiers, because of the amount of children involved, the recruitment they face, their war experiences, and post battle feelings or events.

Today, Human right groups estimate that there are at least if not more than 300,000 child soldiers worldwide. In poorer countries, there are more child soldiers because they fight of land, minerals and drugs. Even though the kids are the perfect weapons for these civil wars in poorer countries, because they are easily manipulated, extremely loyal, fearless and most importantly endless supply; there should not be kids fighting for their country unless they are 18 because of the physical and psychological problems.

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” are words from the Thirteenth Amendment that was passed in 1865. However, is still untrue around the world. One issue that is violating this amendment is child soldiers. Child soldiers are a horrifying issue around the world that put the lives of many children at risk. One reason child soldiers are such a huge problem is because they are forced to take part in many life-threatening conflicts. Another reason is because the children are brainwashed to do as the army tells them to.

“Compelled to become instruments of war, to kill and be killed, child soldiers are forced to give violent expression to the hatreds of adults” (“Child Soldiers” 1). This quotation by Olara Otunnu explains that children are forced into becoming weapons of war. Children under 18 years old are being recruited into the army because of poverty issues, multiple economic problems, and the qualities of children, however, many organizations are trying to implement ways to stop the human rights violation.

Kathy Vandergrift writes about the implementation of the United Nation Security Council’s Resolution 1612. Her work consists of writing about the resolution and how the Resolution 1612 could function and prevent further abuses against children. She states that making the protection of civilians in conflict, particularly children, is a priority. Her work shows how the United Nations dealt with the problem. The United Nations made some progress, but there is still a need for changes. Vandergrift shows the accomplishments and failures of the Security Council. She also mentions some measures that have been used for the protection of children. Those measures include public awareness, diplomacy of children and the support of humanitarian organizations

There are a lot of negative consequences of child soldiering, both for the child soldiers but also for the local community. Hill and Langholtz (2001, p. 280) argue that the soldiering have dramatic effects on “children´s individual, family, and community social spheres”. On individual level the child soldiers are affected in several ways, such as the lack of education and schooling while being at war. This puts them in a vulnerable situation when returning to the society. Not only will they experience a lack of needed skills for a civilian economy, which puts them in the risk of becoming re-recruited, but it is also hard to enrol them back in school seeing that they might be far behind their expected level according to their age. Another vulnerable