Abstract
Abstract Despite the consolidated body of public international law on children’s rights and armed conflict, why do armed rebel groups and state forces deploy children in armed conflict, particularly in Somalia? First, due to the lack of alternative sources of income and livelihood beyond armed conflict, children join the army due to coercive recruitment by commanders of armed groups. Their participation in armed conflict generates a fleeting and false sense of material security and belongingness in a group. Second, many Somali children were born in an environment of existential violence and material insecurity that normalized and routinized violence, thereby motivating them to view enlistment in armed conflict as morally permissible and necessary for existential survival.
Highlights
In its 2019 report, Save the Children – the global civil society organization dedicated to children’s rights — maintained that minors today “have a better chance than at any time in history to grow up healthy, educated and protected, with the opportunity to reach their full potential.”[1]
The ground-breaking report to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly contended that the presence of children in a conflict zone constitutes a violation of “every right of a child – the right to life, the right to be with family and community, the right to health, the right to the development of personality and the right to be nurtured and protected.”[3]. The recruitment of children in wars is not historically new, for example, children have been deployed during the Second World War, the American Revolution, and the Civil War in Sierra Leone in the 1990s
There is a wide variation in their involvement in wars, as some of them are primarily engaged in the frontlines of armed conflict, such as in suicide missions, while some of them function as spies or messengers or are forced into sexual slavery
Summary
In its 2019 report, Save the Children – the global civil society organization dedicated to children’s rights — maintained that minors today “have a better chance than at any time in history to grow up healthy, educated and protected, with the opportunity to reach their full potential.”[1]. Achvarina and Reich argue that, since 1975, Africa has witnessed the largest number of conflicts, the increase of non-state armed groups, and the most rapid intensification in the recruitment and use of children, becoming the world’s hub of child soldiering.[14]. The widespread deployment of children in armed conflict constitutes a grave human rights crisis, which pushes the Somalian state to comply with the relevant international and regional human rights treaties and conventions that the country signed and ratified over the years.[22]. Available at: https://www.unicef.org/mali/media/1561/file/ ParisPrinciples.pdf Last accessed: 27.08.2020 This figure is considered to be an approximation since it is very problematic to have an accurate number of all children recruited in armies at a global level. The final section will present the conclusions of the article, where the findings will be considered in the broader discussion of the international discourse of child recruitment and conflict studies
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
