They were used for combat and espionage This is how Africa became the first in the world to recruit children

With the increase in armed conflicts in African countries, international organizations have recorded, in recent decades, an alarming rise in the phenomenon of child recruitment, who are exploited illegally and inhumanely in the various conflicts taking place there, thus placing Africa first in the world.

Although the international community condemned the phenomenon of child recruitment, which is alarmingly widespread in the countries of the African continent, this has not been able to curb its spread. Especially in light of the continued eruption of many wars and armed conflicts, in recent years, in various countries of Central and West Africa.

As the weakest social group that has been greatly affected by wars and battles, various armed groups in Africa have used children as fuel for war, in flagrant defiance of all international laws and covenants that stress the protection of human rights and children.

In addition to the deteriorating living conditions, insecurity and food insecurity, African children were also entrapped in military and logistical missions, during the battles, amid an international failure to enforce the law on the ground and stop this serious violation.

The first in the world to recruit children

A shocking report recently published by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), revealed that the number of children recruited in the conflicts in West and Central Africa is the highest in the world. At least 21,000 children have been recruited from non-state armed groups in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic over the past five years.

Recruitment rates among children have witnessed a remarkable increase since the spread of the Corona pandemic, reaching in 2020 about 4,500 children who were used in various military and logistical tasks during battles, such as fighting and spying for armies and militias, cleaning and cooking, and even as sex slaves.

In a related context, several UN reports in 2016 showed alarmingly that Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, most of them recorded the largest number of child victims of sexual violence and kidnapping. Thus, the children of Africa are trapped behind the lines of conflict, in the face of violence and insecurity.

According to the UNICEF report, more than 57 million African children today need legal assistance and protection, due to the escalation and extension of armed conflict.

In the context of monitoring the rates of child recruitment, a previous report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on child recruitment in Africa in 2015 revealed that, for example, there are about 17,000 children among the government forces, allied militias and the opposition in Sudan, including children who were kidnapped to participate against their will in the battles. .

The report also recorded that about 200,000 Somali children took up arms and participated in the armed conflict, so that the phenomenon of child recruitment is almost an inherent culture in Somalia, according to the report.

Why are children recruited?

After a document issued by UNICEF in 2007 defined the concept of a child soldier, as every child associated with a military force or group under the age of eighteen years and used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes. Many have questioned the real reasons behind the deliberate recruitment of children by armed militias in Africa.

In this context, experts and analysts emphasized that children are among the weakest groups in society, which are characterized by shortcomings and inability to make decisions and self-defense, which creates a desire among armed groups to include this group that is easily accessible, controlled and controlled, to carry out orders without hesitation or Discussion.

Some children may voluntarily choose to take up arms in these battles, whether to earn a living or to avenge the death of a family member or for other reasons, but this does not negate that all reasons do not justify the use of a minor child on the fronts of wars.