Over 300 child soldiers released in South Sudan
YaMBiO: More than 300 child soldiers have been released by armed groups in South Sudan, the secondlargest such release since civil war began five years ago.
Over 19,000 children are thought to have been recruited by all sides.
The “laying down of the guns” ceremony for 87 girls and 224 boys on Wednesday was the first step in a process that should see at least 700 child soldiers freed in the coming weeks, the United Nations said.
Putting down weapons and rejoining normal life is just the “beginning of the journey”, said the head of the UN mission in South Sudan, David Shearer.
The UN has released almost 2,000 child soldiers so far. More than 10% of them have been under age 13.
One 17-year-old boy who had been abducted and forced to fight attended Wednesday’s ceremony while clasping his arms around his stomach and staring at the ground, giving his first name Christopher.
“They told me to kill my mother,” he said, his voice barely audible.
After being seized from his home by opposition soldiers at the age of 10 during a period of localised fighting, he said his mother came into the bush to plead with his commanders to set him free.
“When she came they told me to shoot her or I’d be killed instead,” the boy said. “I had no option, I just asked God to forgive me.”
But he had never shot a gun, and when he pulled the trigger it jammed.
His mother escaped.
Now freed, Christopher said his family has forgiven him.
The released children will be reunified with their families and given three months’ worth of food assistance and psychosocial support, along with the opportunity to go to school.
Although aid workers were optimistic, they worried that renewed violence could force the children back into armed groups.
A new round of peace talks began this week in neighbouring Ethiopia, mediated by a regional bloc.
“If peace isn’t sustained and people are forced to the bush, we’ll lose these children,” said Anne Hadjixros, a child protection officer with Unicef. — AP