Somali Children Forced to Become Child Soldiers
- by: Care2.com
- recipient: Caroline Petit, Chief, Promotion and Distribution Unit, News/Media, United Nations
In recent years, the humanitarian crisis in Somalia has worsened to include such human rights abuses as public amputation, rape, torture, and female mutilation. Even more troubling is the systematic recruitment of child soldiers into this environment of indiscriminate violence and anarchic war.
Boys are taken to camps where they are abused, trained as soldiers, and, on occasion, set up as suicide bombers. Girls are abducted to cook and clean for the army, raped and forced into marriage.
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is supported by the United Nations and member states of the European Union, who supply weapons, money, and supplies for defense. However, there are currently no safeguards to ensure that the weapons and supplies end up in the right hands.
Sign this petition to call on all involved states to stop supplying arms to Somalia until its government can assure that the weapons will not be used to contribute to the humanitarian crisis there.
Boys are taken to camps where they are abused, trained as soldiers, and, on occasion, set up as suicide bombers. Girls are abducted to cook and clean for the army, raped and forced into marriage.
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is supported by the United Nations and member states of the European Union, who supply weapons, money, and supplies for defense. However, there are currently no safeguards to ensure that the weapons and supplies end up in the right hands.
Sign this petition to call on all involved states to stop supplying arms to Somalia until its government can assure that the weapons will not be used to contribute to the humanitarian crisis there.
I am writing to urge a measure that would forbid international players from providing funds and arms to the Somalian government until there is a system in place that ensures that these weapons are not being used for human rights abuses.
Somalia, torn by chaos and violence for decades, faces a constant humanitarian crisis, and those who are most affected are Somalian children. Any preexisting sense of normalcy has long since been shattered, and there is no rule of law. Amnesty International estimates that some 1.46 million people have been internally displaced as of June 2011, with over 750,000 fleeing to neighboring countries. The constant violence and shellings not only involve government and anti-government forces but include various criminal gangs and warlords with shifting allegiances. Social infrastructure, most significantly education, is practically non-existent, hindered by attacks specifically against teachers, students, and schools. Only 23% of children are enrolled in any kind of primary school.
In the midst of such chaos, the systematic recruitment of child soldiers by militant Islamic forces comes as no surprise. These groups use indoctrination, money, and threats to recruit children in addition to raiding schools and playgrounds and accosting cars at the border. Boys and girls are taken to military camps, where the boys are taught how use weaponry and are often sent to the front lines or into civilian areas as suicide bombers. Meanwhile, abducted girls serve as cooks and maids at these camps, and are frequently raped or forced into early marriages to militia members.
An entire generation of Somali children have had their lives horrifically shattered, and the tragedy is that their lack of education perpetuates the cycle. "Youth have no education and so they do not know what they are doing," explains an 18-year-old Somali woman. Beyond having no skills to potentially create a livelihood, these traumatized children lack perspective with which to view their situation.
The international community needs to stop supplying arms and money to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG). There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the TFG is responsible for just as many war crimes as al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, against whom international sanctions have been leveled since 2010. The leaders of all these factions must be held accountable for their human rights abuses, including their recruitment of children as child soldiers and suicide bombers.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
Sign PetitionSign PetitionSomalia, torn by chaos and violence for decades, faces a constant humanitarian crisis, and those who are most affected are Somalian children. Any preexisting sense of normalcy has long since been shattered, and there is no rule of law. Amnesty International estimates that some 1.46 million people have been internally displaced as of June 2011, with over 750,000 fleeing to neighboring countries. The constant violence and shellings not only involve government and anti-government forces but include various criminal gangs and warlords with shifting allegiances. Social infrastructure, most significantly education, is practically non-existent, hindered by attacks specifically against teachers, students, and schools. Only 23% of children are enrolled in any kind of primary school.
In the midst of such chaos, the systematic recruitment of child soldiers by militant Islamic forces comes as no surprise. These groups use indoctrination, money, and threats to recruit children in addition to raiding schools and playgrounds and accosting cars at the border. Boys and girls are taken to military camps, where the boys are taught how use weaponry and are often sent to the front lines or into civilian areas as suicide bombers. Meanwhile, abducted girls serve as cooks and maids at these camps, and are frequently raped or forced into early marriages to militia members.
An entire generation of Somali children have had their lives horrifically shattered, and the tragedy is that their lack of education perpetuates the cycle. "Youth have no education and so they do not know what they are doing," explains an 18-year-old Somali woman. Beyond having no skills to potentially create a livelihood, these traumatized children lack perspective with which to view their situation.
The international community needs to stop supplying arms and money to Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG). There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the TFG is responsible for just as many war crimes as al-Shabab and Hizbul Islam, against whom international sanctions have been leveled since 2010. The leaders of all these factions must be held accountable for their human rights abuses, including their recruitment of children as child soldiers and suicide bombers.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
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