29 February 2008 - CRIN Children and Armed Conflict 116
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SRI LANKA: LTTE has new method for child recruitment, govt tells UN [news]
KENYA: Crisis leads to more child abuse [news]
NEPAL: Children should not take part in violent political action, say UN agencies [news]
SECURITY COUNCIL: Global study on the implementation of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism [publication]
UK: Child asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported [news]
COLOMBIA: Lessons learned from the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers [publication]
**NEWS IN BRIEF**
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SRI LANKA: LTTE has new method for child recruitment, govt tells UN [news]
[COLOMBO, 25 February 2008] - LTTE is continuing to "forcibly train" children in its stronghold in northern Sri Lanka, before returning them to their normal environment, the government has alleged.
"This (LTTE) terrorist group continues recruitment and use of children as combatants and its commitment (to stop such recruitment) was never implemented," the Sri Lankan Permanent Representative to the UN, Prasad Kariyawasam, told the working group of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict.
Kariyawasam said the Tamil Tigers achieve their objective "by forcibly submitting the children to weapons training and thereafter returning them to their normal environment, so that they could be used for combat purposes as and when the need arises".
Evidence has surfaced to suggest that the LTTE does not allow children to successfully complete secondary education unless they undergo weapons training, Kariyawasam said at the UN headquarters on Friday.
Local and international agencies compiling statistics on child recruitment do not seem to have taken note of this new strategy adopted by the LTTE, the Sri Lankan Diplomat added.
Kariyawasam also said the situation with regard to child abductions in Eastern Province has improved in a "tangible manner" following the eviction of the rebels from the Eastern Province last year.
"There were no complaints recorded by law enforcement authorities in 2008 relating to abduction or recruitment of children by any armed group in the Eastern Province," he told the UN body.
Government also criticised
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has in the past questioned the government's readiness to improve Sri Lanka's rights record.
The government has rejected her call for UN human rights monitors to be deployed.
According to New York-based Human Rights Watch, there have been over 1,000 recent abductions. The government says many reported cases are false.
"In the context of the armed conflict and the emergency measures taken against terrorism, the weakness of the rule of law and the prevalence of impunity is alarming," Ms Arbour said.
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16490&flag=news
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KENYA: Crisis leads to more child abuse [news]
[LONDON, 28 February 2008] - Kenya's children run increasing risk of physical and sexual assault and face worsening food shortages in the aftermath of recent bloodshed, aid agency Save the Children said on Thursday.
A disputed 27 December election sparked widespread violence that killed 1,000 people and displaced some 300,000. The aid group said over half of those were likely to be children, who were by far the most vulnerable.
"We have spoken to many children who have been victims of violence and abuse and spoken to many more who have witnessed it," said Save the Children emergency coordinator Matthew Wingate. "Some have been raped, many beaten up. All are struggling with the trauma of what they have experienced."
The group said conditions in the displaced camps were worsening despite a lull in violence.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement on Thursday to end the crisis. Save the Children said quick action was needed to prevent further problems.
Violence has already hit the country's economy and agriculture sector, but Wingate said that with planting season approaching there was a risk of a wider food crisis if people were not able to return to home and normality.
Many children had been unable to attend school, he said, with many teachers fleeing and school buildings used to house the displaced.
"In a culture where when children drop out of school they find it very difficult to get back in this is a very serious problem," he said.
[Source: Reuters]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16538&flag=news
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NEPAL: Children should not take part in violent political action, say UN agencies [news]
[22 February 2008] – UNICEF and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have issued a joint warning to all Nepalese to keep the country’s children free from harm amid mounting concern that they are frequently participating in violent protests and general strikes.
In a statement issued in Kathmandu, the capital, UNICEF and OHCHR said they had received confirmed reports of children’s involvement, especially in the Terai region, in violent activities.
Earlier this month in Nepalgunj, “a considerable number of children aged between seven and 15,” some carrying sticks, were seen supporting the enforcement of a bandh or general strike. In another case, children aged between eight and 12 were observed manning a roadblock in Sunsari district armed with sticks.
More than 100 children, some in school uniforms, also took part in a violent attack on Nepali Congress members in Darchula district on 5 February.
UNICEF and OHCHR urged all parties in Nepal to respect the Convention on the Rights of the Child and to take all measures to avoid exposing boys and girls under the age of 18 to risk of harm. The country’s recently enshrined electoral code clearly states that no children should be brought to participate in any kind of procession, mass meeting or election-related activity.
“Furthermore, it is unacceptable that hundreds of thousands of children in the Terai and some Eastern hill districts have been prevented from attending school due to the imposition of bandhs,” the statement noted. “The indefinite closure of schools has forced girls and boys to stay at home and is depriving them of their fundamental right to education.”
[Source: UN]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16493
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SECURITY COUNCIL: Global study on the implementation of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism [publication]
This study on the implementation of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) is a key component of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1612. The findings of this study are presented in a series of five reports: four country-specific reports on Colombia, DR Congo, Sri Lanka and Uganda along with a global report entitled 'Getting it Done and Doing it Right'.
In 2005, the United Nations Security Council broke new ground in requesting the UN system to establish a mechanism to monitor and report on violations of children’s rights in situations of armed conflict. The implementation of the UN-led Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism (MRM) is essential to improving the protection of children affected by armed conflict.
The MRM has met with many successes since its inception. However, some surmountable challenges remain. In an effort to address these challenges, Watchlist undertook a global study on implementation of the MRM. After six months of intensive work, this field- based study includes a comprehensive global study on the implementation of the MRM and four country-specific, companion reports on Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka and Uganda. The global study also includes a brief appendix on activities underway in Nepal.
These reports assessed four key areas of MRM implementation. These are:
1. The Participation of NGOs in the MRM
2. Maintaining Security and Respecting Rights
3. Leveraging Networks and Resources
4. Triggering Timely Responses to Violations
Each study includes extensive, detailed and practicable recommendations that address challenges and provide ways forward in each of these areas.
Download the reports in pdf formats:
For more information, contact:
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
c/o Womens' Commission for Refugee Women and Children
122 E. 42nd Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10168, USA
Tel: + 1 212 551 3111; Fax: + 1 212 551 3180
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.watchlist.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16292
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UK: Child asylum-seekers to be forcibly deported [news]
[LONDON, 1 February 2008] - The Home Office provoked fury after it announced that teenage asylum-seekers who arrive alone in Britain could for the first time be forcibly deported.
Refugee groups and children's charities protested that the threatened removals would endanger and distress vulnerable young people fleeing nations in turmoil.
Some 3,000 unaccompanied youngsters claim asylum every year, with the largest numbers coming from Afghanistan, Iran, eastern Africa and China.
Children are allowed to remain in the country until they reach 18, when their cases for asylum are considered alongside adult applicants.
Liam Byrne, the Immigration minister, said that the policy was a "green light" to people-traffickers who could promise teenagers they would not be sent home once they reached Britain.
In a consultation document, the Home Office said under-18s would be offered help to go home voluntarily when it was safe to do so, but added that it could not be right for them to remain in this country when they had turned down the chance.
It added: "We will therefore consider, on a case by case basis, enforcing the removal of those who have not reached 18 and who do not accept the offer of an assisted voluntary return where it is clear that the consequences of their actions have been explained and understood by them."
But Lisa Nandy, policy adviser for the Children's Society, warned: "This will cause great distress and suffering to many who have fled torture, war and poverty and runs contrary to the Government's aspiration to keep these children safe."
Dame Mary Marsh, chief executive of the children's charity, the NSPCC, said: "The Government appears to be turning its back on children who have been separated from their families and who may have suffered trauma or persecution."
She added: "The majority of these children will be alone, frightened and unable to speak English and therefore powerless to explain why their safety depends on remaining in the UK.
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "The Government should not try to force any child to return against their wishes where their safety and welfare cannot be guaranteed. These are not children who come here seeking a better life, with their families waiting for them in peaceful homes. Many of them are children from war zones."
Mr Byrne also announced that regional centres will be set up to specialise in assessing the age of applicants who claim to be children, to stop over-18s claiming they are still minors. Plans to use X-rays to help determine age will be considered by a working group after the idea was opposed by campaigners on human rights and health grounds.
Plans to find alternatives to detention for asylum-seeking families were also announced by the Home Office.
[Source: The Independent - UK]
Further information
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16539&flag=news
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COLOMBIA: Lessons learned from the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers [publication]
A report by Y Care International and YMCA Bogotá was launched this month on their research into the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers in Colombia. Overcoming Lost Childhoods - Lessons learned from the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers details lessons learned and aims to inform work with former child soldiers in other countries.
Denied a childhood and often subjected to horrific violence, an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 young people under the age of 18 are currently serving as soldiers in armed conflicts worldwide. Approximately 11,000 under 18s are thought to have served in Colombia's long-running civil war.
Further information
Y Care International
Kemp House, 152-160 City Road, London, EC1V 2NP, UK
Tel: + 44 20 7549 3150
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.ycareinternational.org
Visit: http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16446&flag=report
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**NEWS IN BRIEF**
Peru: Compulsory military identification cards abolished (25 February 2008)
http://www.livinginperu.com/news-5816-politics-minister-defense-eliminate-military-identification-peru
Iraq: al-Qaida 'training children' (7 February 2008)
http://www.crin.org/resources/infoDetail.asp?ID=16381&flag=news
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