Young with a gun

HOW THE BRITISH ARMY RELIES ON YOUNG RECRUITS TO BOOST NUMBERS

YOUNG people from poor backgrounds are being intentionally targeted by the British army for risky frontline roles. That’s according to a report by human rights think-tank the Child Rights International Network (CRIN). The UK is the only country in NATO, and in Europe, to recruit soldiers from the age of 16. Statistics from the Ministry of Defence show that more soldiers join the army at the age of 16 than any other age. Some 1,000 new army recruits were age 16 in the year to March 2019, while a further 820 were age 17. They accounted for 29% of new recruits into the ranks. The report shows that minors were enlisted into the army disproportionately from the more deprived constituencies - and argues that Army recruitment marketing is focused on the poorest towns and cities. The army’s youngest recruits, especially those from deprived backgrounds, are most susceptible to stress-related mental health and behaviour problems associated with military life. A third of recruits who enlist aged under 18 drop out before completing training, leaving them out of education and work and harming social mobility in the areas where they are from. CRIN Campaigns Coordinator, Charlotte Cooper, said: “The army is leaning on teenagers from the most deprived backgrounds to fix its recruitment crisis, using them to fill the riskiest roles because it can’t persuade enough adults to enlist. “Yet the evidence shows that this group is the most likely to suffer negative health impacts from a military career. “A military setting is unambiguously incompatible with the fundamental rights and welfare of children and young people, particularly those from a troubled background. They deserve better: meaningful civilian opportunities for education and employment.” An MOD spokesperson said: “We are proud of the opportunities serving in the armed forces affords young people, from basic literacy education and support for postgraduate degrees, to highquality accredited training and unique employment prospects. “Army recruitment is a national recruitment campaign designed to reach a broad range of audiences. “It is incorrect to suggest that recruitment campaigns specifically target those from deprived backgrounds.”