Voices of Child Soldiers

Recruitment Practice

Myanmar (Burma)

“They filled the forms and asked my age, and when I said 16, I was slapped and he said, ‘You are 18. Answer 18’ He asked me again and I said, ‘But that’s my true age’. The sergeant asked, ‘Then why did you enlist in the army?’ I said, ‘Against my will. I was captured.’ He said, ‘Okay, keep your mouth shut then,’ and he filled in the form. I just wanted to go back home and I told them, but they refused. I said, ‘Then please just let me make one phone call,’ but they refused that too.”

Maung Zaw Oo, describing the second time he was forced into the Tatmadaw Kyi (army) in 2005.1

Chad

“Child soldiers are ideal because they don’t complain, they don’t expect to be paid, and if you tell them to kill, they kill.”

Senior officer in the Chadian National Army (ANT).2

Southern Thailand

“When the armed groups have got recruited children and youth, they then would supah or take an oath. After that, they cannot withdraw. Otherwise, other members would kill them called ‘blood halal’ or killing without guilt, because this is an act of betrayal to religion by ‘munafi’.”3

A religious leader from Pattani interviewed by the Coalition in 2007 describing the recruitment of children and youth by armed separatist groups.

Sri Lanka

“We saw our children on the top floor of [Karuna’s political party] office. We were three mothers of children taken from here. The children signalled to us that we should go or they would get hit.”

Mother of a child abducted by the Karuna Group, October 2006.4

Myanmar (Burma)

“Even if there are orders [to demobilize children], battalion commanders will keep the children but hide them in the battalion compound or battalion farms, but they’ll keep them because they don’t have enough soldiers. When I was in the army we always felt we had too many officers and not enough soldiers.”

Major Myint Soe, former battalion commander in the Tatmadaw Kyi.5

Training and Treatment

Southern Thailand

“During training, there were three trainers and six recruited children. They were trained privately in other villages. I acted as a basic trainer, teaching how to scatter spikes and plant bombs. Later, when individuals actually had to plant bombs, one person would dig a hole and then others would plant the bombs. My duty was to train recruited children. They were selected before I trained. I did not know other details.”

A former member of the armed separatist group, National Revolution Front-Coordinate (BRN-C), Coalition interview 2007.

Myanmar (Burma)

“In the mornings we had to do long and short runs with backpacks. We had to run five miles a week, and do long marches of about 30 miles. I was 11, so I couldn’t keep up but had to do my best, otherwise they whipped me with the strings attached to their whistles… When we had to run and I couldn’t carry my gun anymore, the older ones tried to help by taking my gun and running along with me.”

Htun Myint, describing his training in the Tatmadaw Kyi at age 11.6

Nepal

“They [the army] took us to the barracks. They beat us both with their guns and boots. After 15 days my friend died from the beatings. They beat me repeatedly. Once I was beaten unconscious and taken to the hospital. When I regained consciousness I was taken back to the barracks and beaten again. I nearly died. I don’t know why they beat me.”

Ram, recruited in 2004 by the Maoists when he was 14 years old describes his capture by the Royal Nepal Army one year later.7

Uganda

“Sometimes in the bush, the rebels would beat us without mercy whether you made a mistake or not. We would also be made to carry heavy loads on our heads for long distances and made to assemble out in the cold each day as early as 5am.”

Boy age 15, previously abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).8

Girls and DDR

Liberia

“I am now 14. I was with the LURD for two years in 2003 and 2004. I had to tow ammunition and arms for them. They beat me. They did not feed me. I never heard about it and then it was over. I didn’t participate in DD [sic] because I did not know if this was an option was for me.”

Esther, former member of Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD).9

Sierra Leone

“I was captured by one of the RUF (Revolutionary United Front) commanders and after 2 years with his wife, I managed to cross into Liberia, losing contact with my commander. I later returned with the intention of disarming with him, but when disarmament started, my commander refused to disarm with me because I failed to marry him. He gave my gun to another girl who agreed to marry him.”10

17 year old girl

Liberia

“I heard about disarmament from my friends. I couldn’t disarm though because I didn’t have any ammunition. I have friends that were able to disarm.”
Annie, aged 13 who was with government troops for eight months washing clothes, cooking and carrying rice.11

The long-term impact

Uganda

“I feel pain from the rape, as if I have wounds inside, and I am afraid to have a disease. I would like to get tested but there is nobody to help me. I was tested in the reception centre in Gulu, but I was never told the result. The doctor said that it is better not to know the result.”

Girl age 17, previously abducted by the LRA.12

Liberia

“I was living in Foya when government troops entered. I stayed with them from 1999-2003 I was captured with other small girls. There were eight of us altogether. We were all used by this one commander who would rape all of the eight girls. Now I have stomach problems. I am told that I have an infection but when I take medicine I don’t really feel better. I was in my village seeking traditional medicine when the DDR was going on so I missed out. I am still not all right fully.”

Faith, now 18, was 13 when captured by government troops.13

Uganda

“There is a big difference to the time before I was abducted, especially regarding my health. I used to be able to work hard in the garden but now I’m no longer strong and work looks so heavy for me. I can’t perform better yet I have to work hard to earn a living. I really feel weak and sickly, especially in my back and chest.”

Male age 18, previously abducted by the LRA.14

Uganda

“Other children insult me and when I try to fight them they run to the teacher’s office. The teacher says ‘If your head is confused because you were abducted, don’t come and disturb others’. Then the teacher beat me up. I went back with my parents and now it’s a bit better.”

Boy, 14, formerly abducted by the LRA.15

Footnotes

1 Human Rights Watch (HRW), Sold to be soldiers – The recruitment and use of child soldiers in Burma, October 2007.

2 HRW, Early to war – Child Soldiers in the Chad Conflict, July 2007.

3 Munafiqun means a traitor.

4 HRW, Complicit in crime – State collusion in abductions and child recruitment by the Karuna Group, January 2007.

5 HRW, above note 1.

6 Ibid.

7 HRW, Children in the ranks: The Maoists’ Use of Child Soldiers in Nepal, February 2007.

8 Coalition, Returning Home – Children’s perspectives on reintegration. A case study of children abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Teso, eastern Uganda, February 2008.

9 Amnesty International, Liberia: A flawed process discriminates against women and girls, March 2008.

10 Save the Children UK, Stolen Futures – The reintegration of children affected by armed conflict, 2007.

11 Ibid.

12 Coalition, above note 8.

13 Amnesty International, above note 9.

14 Coalition, above note 8.

15 Ibid.