When mentioning child soldiers, one’s mind immediately imagines children’s recruitment in African armies or rebel groups. While this phenomenon in the African continent is real and still very common, the usage of child soldiers in wars is attributable to many countries around the world. The practice of enlisting minors in the armies may no longer be as widespread in many countries as it was decades ago, and this is mainly due to the numerous international protection instruments that prohibit the involvement of children alongside belligerents in the conduct of acts of hostility; however some exceptions can be found and, in fact, the use of child soldiers by more or less democratic and more or less developed countries can be seen in rather recent armed conflicts.
Before delving into the analysis of child soldiers’ phenomenon as mentioned in the above, it is appropriate to first specify who is definable as a “child” according to international jurisprudence and the discipline that prohibits the involvement of child soldiers in armed conflicts as well.
Although it is clear that each country in the world has its own legislation regarding the characteristics of an individual as a child, at the international level, the practice is to recognize as a child any individual who is under the age of 18. According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1), in fact, anyone under the age of 18 is considered a child. Furthermore, the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child concerning the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts (2) outlines various rules to counter the use of children in armed conflict. Considering the 26th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent held in December 1995, it recommends as well that parties to conflicts must take all possible measures to prevent children under the age of 18 from taking part in hostilities.
It is now necessary to comprehend who is a child soldier beyond the age criteria. As a matter of fact, a child soldier is a boy or a girl who is obliged to participate in the conduct of hostilities. Usually, when referring to child soldiers, reference is made to children who bear arms and who have been torn away from their families, their childhood and forced to enlist in an army or rebel movement. According to UNICEF “children become part of an armed force or group for various reasons. Some are abducted, threatened, coerced, or manipulated by armed actors. Others are driven by poverty, compelled to generate income for their families. Still others associate themselves for survival or to protect their communities” (3). As stated, children live in disastrous conditions (they are often unable to meet their basic needs, have little or no education and commit criminal acts e.g., to obtain food) and are often exploited (in particular, girls are often subjected to sexual exploitation, are often given as “prizes” and “wives” to male soldiers). Moreover, when thinking of child soldiers, one should not only imagine the use of children in the conduct of warfare, but also as helpers: they are cooks, weapon bearers, guards, messengers, etc.
Taking the above into consideration, notwithstanding multiple international law instruments aimed at prohibiting the usage of children in the conduct of war hostilities, according to UNICEF, between 2005 and 2020 there were more than 93,000 children recruited and used by parties in armed conflicts (3).
However, as specified, the use of children in armed conflicts is not just something that happens in wars conducted on the African continent. As a matter of facts, various reports demonstrate that children are used by armies or rebel groups in many countries outside Africa, mainly in the Middle East, such as in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen and in South East Asia, such as in Myanmar (4). Although these are countries where there are fragile political and social situations, and although the recruitment of child soldiers is illegal in these countries as well, it is unfortunately not surprising that this practice is carried out in the conflicts that these countries have experienced and are still experiencing. This notwithstanding, curious are the cases of the United States of America and the Russian Federation.
As a matter of facts, the USA and Russia, in fact, also used children in the conduct of war operations in a not-too-distant time. According to Just Security, in fact: “Since 1917, US laws allowed 17-year-olds to volunteer to join the military with parental permission, and minors continued to be deployed in combat operations into the 1990s, including in conflicts in Bosnia, Somalia, and the 1991 Gulf War” (5). Moreover, when negotiating the previously mentioned Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, which was adopted to strengthen the previous Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989, the United States had opposed to imposing an age limit of 18 years to be recruited by the military and participate in hostilities. The issue was then resolved with then-President Clinton’s acceptance of the 18-year age limit in 2000.
As for Russia, it has always used the militarization of public life to indoctrinate local populations and continues that practice today. Currently, thousands of children in the Donbas and Crimea are subject to military training or other military-related activities. While there are no official records on the topic, human rights activists and the media have provided wide-ranging evidence of children’s participation in military-related events and training, and even their recruitment in non-state armed formations (6). Children are used more in support of the conduct of war operations, but even this, as specified, is a severe violation of international legal instruments that aim to protect the rights of children and prohibit their recruitment into armed forces or rebel groups.
The international community must necessarily strengthen international legislation preventing the recruitment of child soldiers in armed conflicts. International organizations, such as UNICEF, must partner with governments, community groups and others to address the drivers of child recruitment and stop violations before they occur (3). Children subject to forced recruitment must be removed from the armed groups to which they are enlisted (whether State or non-State armed groups) and social reintegration programs must be initiated. Such programs must provide a safe place for them to live upon release, as well as community-based services for case management, family tracing, reunification and psychosocial support (3) in order to end the practice of child soldiers in the conduct of war operations.
References:
- https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention/convention-text#
- https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.22_crc-conflict.pdf
- https://www.unicef.org/protection/children-recruited-by-armed-forces
- https://reliefweb.int/report/central-african-republic/10-countries-where-child-soldiers-are-still-recruited-armed
- https://www.justsecurity.org/78689/its-time-to-revisit-the-united-states-evolving-posture-toward-the-use-of-child-soldiers/
- https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/children-as-a-tool-how-russia-militarizes-kids-in-the-donbas-and-crimea/
By The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
