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Militarisation of children a growing trend in Asia

From preparing meals to serving as conduits, from spying to fighting front-line battles, the cadres of children being groomed for armed conflicts in Asia are growing.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's indoctrination of children, the emergence of madrasas as recruitment and training grounds in Pakistan and the training of young boys by Hindu extremist groups in India are just some of the instances of the growing militarisation of children in the subcontinent.

At least 300,000 children under the age of 18 are currently taking part in hostilities around the world. They are recruited, sometimes forcibly, into government armed forces, paramilitary groups or militia and non-government armed groups, says the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers in its new report entitled 'The Use of Children as Soldiers in the Asia-Pacific region.'

The report expresses concern about the condition of children educated in many of Pakistan's Islamic schools. Though there are no official figures regarding the numbers of madrasas in that country, it says the estimates vary between 15,000 and 25,000.

While some madrasas are legitimate, informal educational institutions, many have emerged with government inaction and often tacit support as centres for indoctrination, training and recruitment of young fighters in the armed conflicts in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.

In India, the army has provided weapons to local Village Defence Committees in Doda, Udhampur and the border districts to assist security forces in the anti-militancy operations. The VDCs have now emerged as an organised fighting arm of the state and the basis for recruitment is previous military service. But, according to the report, it seems that children can also participate in the activities of the VDCs.

In the northeastern state of Manipur, it is claimed that there are child soldiers in every insurgent group and their numbers are estimated between 6,000 and 7,500.

It is further claimed that the recent trend is to induct more and more girls into insurgency movements in order to avoid suspicion on the hardcore activists. The number of girl soldiers is said to be between 900 and 1000.

As a result of the presence of children in the armed groups in Manipur, children, especially boys, are targeted by soldiers who believe that these boys might be supporters or future members of such armed groups, it says. Similar findings have been reported in Tripura.

Among the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh, Amnesty International has reported the recruitment of boys aged between eight and 15. The boys, usually hailing from scheduled castes or tribes or socially or economically disadvantaged classes, are recruited to the Bala Sangham, a militant children's organisation based in district towns such as north Telengana.

There are reportedly around 75 Bala Sanghams in Andhra Pradesh with over 800 children in their ranks. Tribal girls are reportedly used as couriers in areas of Adilabad and Dandakarnya. Organisations such as the People's War Group also reportedly use children to provide food and to deliver ransom notes without arousing suspicion.

In Afghanistan, children have taken active part in hostilities on all sides of the Afghan conflict. A generation of children has grown up, first as members of the resistance to Soviet forces and later as members of Afghanistan's many warring factions.

The Taliban movement, which today controls most of Afghanistan's territory and machinery of government, continues to recruit young men trained and indoctrinated in madrasas in Pakistan, observes the report.

The LTTE, despite commitments made to the UN secretary general's special representative for children and armed conflict in May 1998 not to recruit under 17-year-olds in hostilities, has not lived up to its promise. In fact, it seems to have stepped up its recruitment drive in late 1998 in the eastern Batticaloa district, resulting in at least 150-200 children being added to the ranks.

The report, prepared by the Coalition, which groups leading NGOs working in this field, documents for the first time the range and scale of this problem in the region, covering south, central and east Asia. The worst affected countries have been Afghanistan, Cambodia, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

UNI

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