Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC)is escalating and with it the plight of thousands of helpless children. We have heard of wars involving child soldiers, most notably the war involving bitter neighbors Iraq and Iran, where thousands of young children were drafted into the armies of both the countries to fight a senseless ideological war. But, nowhere has the use of child soldiers been as brutal and widespread as in the DCR.
According to reports from the international aid agency Save the Children, huge numbers of children are being recruited on a regular basis by the conflicting parties, particularly in the war-ravaged North Kivu province in eastern Congo.
Recruiting child soldiers is a deliberate and a clever ploy used by Congo’s militias and governmental forces to shore up the combatant manpower. And moreover, it is easier to train and even hide the children.
According to many African analysts, the DCR is following an old and brutal legacy of child exploitation across the African continent. The immense ethnic diversity and the presence of huge deposits of natural wealth across Congo have led to the inhumane concept of ‘child soldiers’.
With more than 200 ethnic groups, Congo is a deeply divided country. Each ethnic community regards itself completely different from all the others and with the huge natural bounty on offer across the country these, communities are fighting among themselves regularly. With almost endless mineral resources like diamonds, tin, cobalt, gold, copper, etc, present in the region, every community sends all its able men, including children, to forcefully get the control of these precious minerals.
According to various sources, the children of these communities do not go to school, do not eat but they are made to believe about the immense power that is associated with being a member of an armed group.
When will this horrible practice end? Honestly speaking, given the terrible political and security situation in the DCR and the UN’s relatively soft and inadequate stance in combating the evil, the answer is negative. Its the Congolese people of all ethnicities that must be reached out to prevent children from being recruited into the armed groups.
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Source: Independent
