Introduction
Children are one of the vulnerable section of the society and victims of different kinds of exploitation. All the atrocities, instability in the society directly and indirectly make impact on children. Children in armed conflict one of such group in the society who is vulnerable and prone to many exploitation. The relationship of the child with war can be categorised into two. One is children are impacted by the war by losing their shelter, their identity their family and the rights. Second they are involved in the war in the form of child soldiers by force. When a war or conflict take place all the thing surrounded with the place where the conflict happened will be get disturbed all the people living or related to that particular place get affected. The severe effects will be suffered by the children in that place as they are the most vulnerable section. The internationally agreed definition for a child associated with an armed force or armed group (child soldier) is any person below 18 years of age who is, or who has been, recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.
(Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces or Armed Groups, 2007.)
Child affected by conflict may be defined as a child
In over twenty-five countries, many children are abducted and beaten into submission to be used in real life wars. A very famous viral video called “Kony 2012” was trying to get people to help catch the Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who has kidnapped thousands of children over the past twenty years. Child soldiers are defined as: children under the age of 18 who are recruited by state or non-state armed groups and used as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or even for sexual purposes.
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.
i. Child soldier: which it occurs when a person under the age of 18 is forced to fight in a national army or rebel militia.
Throughout the centuries of time, war has affected everyone. this truth is evident in Tim O' Brian's "The Things They Carried". however even to this day war affects more than the soldiers and their families, war affects t civilians that are caught in the crossfire. Many children and families are killed or wounded. children are left as orphans expected to fend for themselves. this is depicted in both the articles and the book.
Many children are more subject to death and injury because certain weapons can hurt children more severely than adults. Also, children are more affected because during times of war adults love and attention can sometimes become scarce, which can cause them to make unwise decisions. After a war, such as the Salvadoran Civil War, there are many long lasting effects especially on the children because they grow up with the conflict. Which then usually causes them to continue the conflict. For example, in the Gaza-Israel conflict children lost their families and their opportunity to go to school, and because of this they face many psychological issues.
Child Soldiers involves the unlawful recruitment of children under the age of 18, often through force, fraud or coercion. The use of child soldiers takes on three main forms: Direct involvement in armed conflict, whereby the child may be expected to partake in the fighting whilst being armed with a weapon, Indirect involvement through support roles, such as being a messenger, scout, cook, clearing landmines or even as sexual slaves and finally the use for particular political advantage, such as propaganda or as a human shield.
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.
A Child Soldier is a minor, that is forced to fight for their country without safety and rehabilitation. The employment of Child Soldiers has grown, and many of these soldiers are at a high risk of death if they do not complete the task given to them. Child Soldiers endure the same conditions as adults in war, they experience gruesome times during training and war. As Child Soldiers have grown more common, the question has arisen, about whether Child Soldiers
A child is an extreme victim because one day he or she may be sharing a meal with his or her family and the next day becomes branded by the emblem of guerrilla warfare. He or she is a perpetrator because, once the child is handed the gun and learns how to use it, the power rests in his or her hands. And, finally, the child is a hero fighting for a cause that is mostly likely incomprehensible to his or her developing intellect and is ready to die for the sake of its duration and influence. All three of these positions can be wrapped into a sphere of extremity because there is always one goal emphasized through a glorified, tunnel vision: to kill or be killed. Most concisely, a child soldier can be defined as a slave because he or she, upon initiation, has offered to the recruiter an oath of obedience and, unknowingly and without will, the opportunity for the recruiter to manipulate his or her mind under a system of pure, unyielding weaponry. As a form of modern slavery, the forced recruitment of child soldiers is congruent with the notion that slaves are considered property. An armed child is only a free pawn in the war for the rise of some political message. For
Children all across world are being exploited as child soldiers. Everyday kids younger the age of 10 are putting their lives on the line mostly by force. ¨Over the last ten years, two million children have been killed in conflict. Over one million have been orphaned, over six million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled and over ten million have been left with serious psychological trauma.¨(Children In Conflict). A child soldier is a child with armed forces; they’re trained to fight, cook, be porters, messengers, informant spies, etc. Countries all across the world have been using children to fight, places like the United Kingdom, Africa, and Asia lean on children to do their dirty work regardless of what laws are put
The practice of conscripting children forcefully to soldiers is one of the most nefarious forms of slavery in the modern world. In the late 20th and early 21st century it was a rising conflict and a common occurrence in places such as Iran, Liberia, and Uganda. Human rights activists recognized that the use of child soldiers will increase in the near future, as well as involving the conflict of HIV/AIDS in these areas and the increase of the youth population. Children are enslaved, captured, and abused under the hired gun. They are forced to do certain tasks requested by whoever recruited them. Children are vulnerable and they can be manipulated easily. According to the article Background and History of Child soldiers “In Asia, the key recruiters
Throughout the world, soldiers protect their nation from foreign and domestic threats. They are trained officials and being one requires you to fulfill your obligations. Obviously, due to their vital role, soldiers are necessity. But, are you familiar with child soldiers? Child soldiers are people under the age of 18 who are forced to fight in war where they are used as suicide bombers, human shields, or spies.
Around 120,000 adolescent children are now engaged in conflicts throughout Africa (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 4). In Sudan, for instance, thousands of children, some as young as 12, were recruited against their will into separatist and government groups (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 5). Thousands more children have been enlisted into the armed forces throughout Asia and the Pacific. The most significant numbers are in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and recently, Cambodia. Myanmar, a country in Asia, has some of the most child soldiers throughout the world, with children being recruited into both non-government and government armed forces (“Child Soldiers: An Overview” 6). The number of child soldiers has been decreasing annually, but these children are still being taken against their will.
The military use of young children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities (child soldiers), or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in propaganda.