Child Soldier - Research Paper Example

Child Soldier Introduction Children are used as soldiers in specific nations around the world to fight in war. The recruitment and employment of child soldiers has been condemned universally as unacceptable and abhorrent. But the number of child soldiers who have fought and died in war and conflict around the world are hundreds of thousands even in the last ten years. Child soldiers participating in armed conflict are more vulnerable to get injured or killed, in combat or during the execution of tasks like laying explosives or mines. Children are forced to do hazardous activities and live in harsh conditions with no proper health care and insufficient food. Child soldiers are also treated brutally and are subjected to humiliating treatment and beatings. Punishments are severe and children are sometimes deserted. Girl soldiers are especially subject to risk of rape, abuse and sexual harassment (Child Soldiers). Thesis Statement The international community and humanitarian international agencies together with the various legal departments must take up measures to curb the recruitment of child soldiers and set up organizations to rehabilitate children who are victims of this evil while all the adults involved in the recruitment process must be brought to justice with severe punishments to deter others from involving in such acts in the future. Content It is found that majority of child soldiers around the world are involved in armed political groups that include militia, government backed paramilitary forces, and self defense groups operation in a number of conflict zones. Children are also forced to work in armed groups to oppose government rule, and in groups comprised of ethnic minorities and religious factions or clan based groups fighting their government, or engage in clashes to defend resources and territory. These children are usually aged between fourteen and eighteen, sometimes even younger and enlist in army because they do not have other alternatives but to involve in armed conflict or are forcibly enlisted. Children are also forced to become a soldier due to lack of work, educational opportunities and poverty. In certain countries, the recruitment of children is done through forcible abduction of large number of children. Even nine year old children are abducted and employed in combat. Though programs like Demobilization, disarmament and reintegration are aimed to rehabilitate children during and after war to learn new skills and join their communities, such programs lack adequate resources and funds and hence it can be effective only if there is long term investment to continue the service (Some Facts). The image of a child soldier is disturbing: because they raise two questions about the unquestioned and fundamental assumptions of the modern society. Children are innocent and ought to be protected, and war is evil, it should be ended. The emotion of a layman interprets that there is something about child soldiers that is profoundly and clearly wrong. Humanitarian organizations around the world are putting forward the image of child soldiers to argue that children should not be subjected to bear arms and the recruiter should be held and prosecuted for war crimes. Humanitarian agencies are already pursuing a case to abolish war stating three basic assumptions; that modern light weight weapons are enabling children to bear arms, that vulnerable children are forced and wooed to become soldiers by unscrupulous adults and that modern warfare is cruel and aberrant. In the recent times, the extent of child soldiers around the world has increased to epidemic proportions (Rosen p.1) The international community has heightened its interest in this social problem with maximum efforts with landmark developments to broaden and strengthen the scope of international steps to protect children from this curse. New instruments and mechanisms are required to end the plight of child soldiers by taking practical steps from the discussion phase and gather adequate support from all sources to change the practice of recruiting children for conflict and prevent those involved from getting away. In the recent past over 5,00,000 children aged under eighteen have been recruited for non-state armed and state armed groups in more than 85 countries around the world. At a given point of time at least 3,00,000 of these child soldiers are involved in active fighting with armed opposition groups or government armed forces. The recruitment of children for fighting is outlawed by the international human rights law, labor law, criminal law and humanitarian law but there is a gap between the standard policy and the application of this law in various settings. The recruiters of children are taking advantage of this practice because children can be turned into obedient fighters in various circumstance for a cheap price and they can be molded into expendable combatants due to their inexperience with the world. Despite the presence of various international laws, recruiters take children because they can recruit and there is no effective action against those people who violate international agreements and conventions. Children are usually abducted from school, homes or communities and are forced to become soldiers and they are labeled as volunteers. The number of volunteers is however very few and they come from marginalized communities where they do not have any other better alternative to live. In this perspective, a little vocational training, education and opportunity to work can make a great difference to the lives of children who can be more independent and less vulnerable to military recruitment. Ideological brainwashing and propaganda is another method used for child recruitment into armed forces. Children can be protected by developing strategies to prevent from being vulnerable to such situation by conferring non violent ways to serve their community and family. Resources are essential to extend education and revive agriculture and offer economic opportunities for a better living. Children who have been already recruited must be demobilized and proper training must be given to lead alternative way of living. Otherwise they will be recruited again. Child soldiers must be rehabilitated to get over their psycho-social disturbance such as angry aggression and nightmare to prevent them from indulging in substance abuse and anti-social behavior after their return from conflicts (In-depth: Child soldiers). Conclusion Child soldier is a curse to the society and must be abolished from all nations around the world because it is not only harmful to the children but also to the society as a whole because the opportunities lost by a child for schooling can reduce the human and economic development of a society. The role of a child as a child soldier increases the opportunity for future cycles of war and poses a danger to peace and can inadvertently cause threat to democracy which is associated to social and human well being. The cause of child soldiers will succeed only if erring people are brought to justice and they should not be given any amnesty for the crimes they have committed against children. Works Cited Child Soldiers 2007 Available: http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/child-soldiers Retrieved on November 22, 2011 In-depth: Child soldiers. AFRICA: Too small to be fighting in anyones war 2003 Available: http://www.irinnews.org/IndepthMain.aspx?IndepthId=24&ReportId=66280 Retrieved on November 22, 2011 Rosen, David M. Armies of the young: child soldiers in war and terrorism New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2005 Some Facts 2007 Available: http://www.child-soldiers.org/childsoldiers/some-facts Retrieved on November 22, 2011 Read More