Rehabilitating Sudan's child soldiers
The United Nations children's
agency Unicef is planning to
return 3500 Sudanese boy soldiers
to their families by the end
of this month. The boys were
taken out of rebel forces after
the southern Sudanese army
agreed to hand them over. They
have been airlifted to Unicef
camps and are being encouraged
to take up other activities,
such as football, before being
taken back to their communities.
Most of the children now in
the camps worked as servants in
rebel army barracks. Some had
been living there since they were
very small, with about 10%
having seen active military
experience.
Sudan's child soldiers march away after laying down their arms (AP PHOTO/SAYYID AZIM)
Unicef wants to ensure that
the children go back to an
improved situation where they
can be incorporated into their
families. There are no clear estimates
of how many children
have been drawn into Sudan's 17
year long civil war, but some
estimates have put the figure as
high as 15 000. The Sudan rebel
movement has promised Unicef
that no more child soldiers will
be recruited.
There are an estimated
300 000 child soldiers around
the world, and this figure grows
every year. In addition to Sudan,
children are used in wars taking
place in Sierra Leone, Congo,
Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and
Burma.
Samena Chaudhry Birmingham
studentBMJ 2001;09:171-216 June ISSN 0966-6494
