Urban Soldier
Child Soldiers: Generations Lost in War
Children all over the world have become victims. Kidnapped and trained to kill as early as 5 years old. Darfur’s 10,000 child soldiers must now face prison or a full pardon, returning them to the homes from which they were taken from. Waging Peace (WP), a human rights organization that focuses on African democracy, was the first to bring light to this unimaginable crisis. Children of Sudan are taken from their homes against their will from the Darfur Rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). This is abduction and forced recruitment. JEM denies it forcibly recruits children. These children are firsthand victims of the Second Sudanese Civil War. Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir negotiated an end to this war, but his efforts have proven to be defeated and more innocent lives are at risk. The soldiers are slaves to their capturers as well. Often robbing and looting local communities for food and water.
In 2006, JEM attacked a oilfield in a region of Sudan. The Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company, a Chinese led company, oversees this field. A month passes and 135 Chinese engineers come to Darfur to work on the field. JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim was not pleased and told reporters he opposed the Chinese presence because they’re not interested in human rights. Its interests lie in profits from Sudan’s resources. Because of this tense relationship between the two countries, it has caused controversy over what China’s role really is as far as the conflict in Darfur is concerned. Sadly, Sudan is just one of many African countries were child soldiers have become an epidemic. Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’lvoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda and Zimbabwe are also facing this horrible reality.
Africa is just one of continent on our planet where child soldiers are recruited.
 
Colombia has been plagued by war for 50 years. In recent years it has began incorporating children and young people into its guerilla and paramilitary ranks. Some went willingly looking for adventure or opportunity for revenge. Others were forced through threats and intimidation. These children became combatants of the Columbian was financed by drug trafficking. The Fudacion Imaginacion helps to eliminate the use of child soldiers is Colombia.
In 2004, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (CSUCS) reported that in Asia thousands of children are involved in fighting in active conflicts in Afghanistan, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Europe as well is not immune to this. Many teenage soldiers are said to have fought in paramilitary units during the Yugoslav Wars in the early 1990s.
Although the laws in the US regulate military recruitment age to 17 today, that wasn’t always the case as history shows. Bugler John Cook served in the US Army at the age of 15 yrs old and received the Medal of Honor for his acts during the Civil War Battle of Antietam, known as the bloodiest day in American history. Other soldiers as young as 11 have also received the Medal of Honor. A law signed in 1827 stated that a number of Jewish boys were forced into military training facilities to serve in the army. Boys as young as 8 yrs old were known to be taken to fill the hard quota.
Wars throughout history have called on children to stand and fight among adults. The Children’s Crusade in 1212 recruited thousands of children. These untrained youth under the assumption that divine power would lead them to conquer enemies. Legend has it they were captured and sold to slavery.
All child soldiers were not forced recruits. Many took up arms and organized as a way of survival in a crumbling society. During the Holocaust, Jews of all ages, including teenagers participated in the Jewish Resistance. While on the opposite side Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) was a group inside the Nazi Army.
It’s very clear that youth have extreme influence on conflicts as well as movements throughout history and the present. Their excitement and ambition to shape the world is refreshing as well as hopeful. But when the innocent are corrupted and brainwashed, they can be a very deadly force as well. It’s extremely sad to see families being ripped apart and communities is terror as a result of the conflicts that involve child soldiers. Their innocence shouldn’t be taken because adults in power are on some kind of power trip for control. The fact that there are so many organizations trying to combat this problem is hopeful as well as unsettling. Recruiting child soldiers in my eyes is just another way of insuring another generation lost at war.
Omar al-Bashir (Jan 1st 1944-present) Current president of Sudan and the head of the National Congress Party. Coming to power in 1989 in the Sudanese army. In 2004, he worked toward an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, one of the longest wars of the modern era. Although since then there has been a deadly conflict in Darfur and a estimated 200,000 and 400,000 lives lost as a result.
Waging Peace (WP) (United Kingdom 2005-present) Non governmental organization that campaigns against genocide and systematic human rights abuses, with particular focus on Sudan, Chad and the Central African Republic. Lobbying British government to use its influence to ensure the protection of civilians in countries where their rights are ignored or their lives in danger due to repressive rulers and regimes.
www.wagingpeace.info
Khalil Ibrahim From the Koba branch of the Zaghawa ethnic group in Sudan, Africa. He was a state minister of education in Darfur and a volunteer doctor in the Sudan People’s Armed Forces before becoming a part of a covert cell of Islamists seeking to change the National Islamic Front (NIC) from the inside.
Justice and Equality Movement or JEM (Sudan, Africa 2000) Rebel group in the Darfur conflict of Sudan led by Khalil Ibrahim. Along with other rebel factions like the Sudan Liberation Movement, fighting against their government and it’s militia.
Coaltion to Stop the use of Child Soldiers or CSUCS (May 1998) Prohibits the military recruitment and use in hostilities of any person younger than 18 yrs of age and the recognition of enforcement of this standard by all armed forces and armed groups, both governmental and non-governmental.
www.child-soldiers.org
Fundacion Imaginacion (Colombia, South America) A organization that aims to promote and develop programs for rebuilding the lives of former fighters and victims of the armed conflict in Colombia.
www.undacionimaginacion.blogspot.com
Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company or GNPOC ( Khartom, Sudan Jun 18th, 1997) A petroleum exploration and production company operating in Sudan which links Sudan’s inland oil fields with refineries a Khartoum and Port Sudan. This is a joint operating company owned by interests in several different countries. China holding the biggest share with 40% ownership and Sudan the last has only 5% ownership.
Children’s Crusade (England 1212) A movement said to have been started by a outspoken young shepherd called Stephen of Cloyes. He claimed he possessed a letter from Christ and desired to go to the Holy Land to capture Jerusalem. By June 1212 he is said to have gathered 30,000 child followers. The Children’s Crusade was never officially a crusade as it was never blessed by the pope. It was a failure. Many children died from exhaustion. The surviving were boarded among 7 boats and no one ever saw them again.
These are the faces of child soldiers
