S Sudan frees 200 of 19 000 child soldiers

JUBA, South Sudan: More than 200 child soldiers were released by armed groups in war-torn South Sudan, part of a series of releases that will see almost 1 000 children freed in the coming months.

An estimated 19 000 children are believed to be in armed forces amid the country’s five-year civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. South Sudan has one of the highest numbers of child soldiers in the world, the UN says.

At the “laying down of the guns” ceremony, 112 boys and 95 girls were returned to their families in areas outside the town of Yambio on Tuesday. “It’s about sending a clear message that children should not be in the army,” said Unicef’s representative in South Sudan, Mahimbo Mdoe. He called on all of South Sudan’s armed factions to release all children.

The release comes weeks ahead of the country’s third round of peace talks, scheduled for the end of the month in neighbouring Ethiopia.

To date, the UN has released more than 2 000 child soldiers, yet despite progress and the government’s commitment to halt the recruitment of children, advocacy groups say it continues.

“Thousands of children are exploited as cooks and porters and as domestic slaves, while girls in armed groups are regularly subjected to serious sexual abuse, taken as ‘wives’ by their captors and kept far beyond the frontlines,” said Sandra Olsson, programme manager at Child Soldiers International.

South Sudan’s government says it condemns the use of child soldiers and blames the opposition for recruiting children. “It’s happening in areas not under our control,” said army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang.

The opposition says the children in its ranks weren’t recruited but taken in after government soldiers murdered their families.

“Many witnessed their parents molested and killed,” said opposition spokesman, Lam Paul Gabriel.

But several children released by the opposition said they had been taken by force. “They tied my eyes and tied our bodies to theirs,” said a former child soldier in Yambio earlier this year. The 17-year-old said she was abducted from school at the age of 14 by opposition fighters who “came in shooting”. She said for two years she was ordered to loot houses of towns they had captured. She saw many children get killed in crossfire.

The children released this week will get food assistance for three months, psychosocial support and vocational training, to help reintegrate them into communities.