United States Combating the Recruitment of Child Soldiers
12/19/2008 3:16:00 PM
Jacqueline was living the carefree life of a kid in Burundi until war broke out between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes. She was captured along with several other young girls and forced to join a rebel militia. "At that time I thought it would have been better for me to die, not to stay on earth and suffer like this, but I survived," says Jacqueline.
She is not alone. Over the past few decades, thousands of young children–many just ten years old or younger—have been abducted from their homes, brutalized, given guns and forced to fight in conflicts. In Sudan, the Lords Resistance Army stole a 15-year-old girl from her home, forced her to kill a young boy and beat her when she dropped a water jug. She received limited military training, and was sent onto the front lines. Countless other children have been similarly traumatized. The practice of recruiting child soldiers has been outspokenly condemned by survivor groups, governments, human rights activists and former child soldiers themselves, but it continues to occur in countries around the world.
But there is progress being made. On December 10, 2008, activists, survivors and child soldiers had reason to celebrate. The United States Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act, which restricts U.S. assistance to governments that have soldiers under the age of 18 in their armies or in government-supported paramilitary groups. Under current conditions, the legislation could affect six countries currently receiving U.S. military assistance: Afghanistan, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda. All six countries are party to international treaties prohibiting the use of children under the age of 18 in hostilities.
The U.S. Campaign to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers has pressed for this legislation for the past 3 years, collaborating with survivors, activists and policy-makers. This is a victory for the thousands of children throughout the world that will benefit from this new law.
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