Continuous fight among DRC government troops and local Hutu and Tutsi militias in Congo deserves as much international attention as the condition of civilian is becoming worse. Here Congolese children, who must carry books and pen, usually learn to hold guns.
The integrated army of various ethnic groups has become the worst human rights abuser. Children of the age of 10 and 18 are forcibly recruited into armed groups to take part in armed conflicts. In the DRC, children have been abducted from street, school classrooms, refugee camps, neighborhoods or walking along the roads and many children have also been taken from their homes at gunpoint, as their parents look helpless to raise voice against them.
Seven years of almost continuous war, also known as Africa’s World War in the Democratic Republic of Congo have led to the death of over three million people since 1998 alone, most of them civilian men, women and children. The fight for the country’s immense mineral wealth is still on. The war has had serious consequences for the social-economic situation in East Congo.
In a latest incident, Nkunda’s rebels last week raided 10 secondary schools and four primary schools and captured may children by force.
Recently Michel Bonnardeaux, a spokesman for the U.N. Mission in Congo asserted,
It has confirmed that children are being recruited by different armed groups, especially by the rebel forces of warlord Laurent Nkunda. However, the number of children that have been forcibly recruited is not yet known.
Why militant groups prefer to include children in their army?
Mostly children of age group 10 to 17 are more submissive and easier to indoctrinate than adults. The massive flow of small arms into the DRC is has also made the use of child soldiers more viable. In some cases children willingly join army in order to escape poverty and to provide support to their families. But most of the time they are forced to engage in hazardous activities such as laying mines or explosives. Girl soldiers are particularly at risk of rape, sexual harassment and abuse.
What needs to be done?
The Work of United nation to save these children is indeed praiseworthy. But it is not enough and more efforts are needed to curb child abuse. I am amazed why America and its fellow countries (Britain, Poland) are not taking this matter seriously. Some strong steps at international should be taken to curb the violation of human rights and protect international humanitarian law. International and local NGOs and social groups should also work mutually to rein in such derogatory abuses and protect the vulnerable youth from falling prey to the irrational as well as endless hostility.
