The voices of child soldiers

The voices of child soldiers... Source from child-soldiers.org

Central Africa

"I feel so bad about the things that I did. It disturbs me so much that I inflicted death on other people. When I go home I must do some traditional rites because I have killed. I must perform these rites and cleanse myself. I still dream about the boy from my village that I killed. I see him in my dreams, and he is talking to me, saying I killed him for nothing, and I am crying." 

 (16-year-old girl after demobilization from an armed group)

Democratic Republic of the Congo

"When they came to my village, they asked my older brother whether he was ready to join the militia. He was just 17 and he said no; they shot him in the head. Then they asked me if I was ready to sign, so what could I do - I didn't want to die."

(A former child soldier taken when he was 13)

"They gave me a uniform and told me that now I was in the army. They even gave me a new name 'Pisco'. They said that they would come back and kill my parents if I didn't do as they said."

(17 year old former child soldier in 2006)

"Being new, I couldn't perform the very difficult exercises properly and so I was beaten every morning. Two of my friends in the camp died because of the beatings. The soldiers buried them in the latrines. I am still thinking of them."

(A former child soldier interviewed in 2002)

Iraq

"I joined the Mahdi army to fight the Americans. Last night I fired a rocket-propelled grenade against a tank."

(A 12 year-old boy in Najaf, 2004)

Why do children join and become child soldiers

Why do children join and become child soldiers?

• Their forced too
• They have no family or friends left
• They get some food and a place to stay
• They may get a sense of belonging
• hey want to get away from everything and try to get their lives back on track
• They want revenge for their families and friends being killed or hurt
• They may think they have more chance to live through the war

And many more reasons...

The reality of using child soldiers

The military use of child soldiers takes three forms

1. Becoming a child solider and fighting in war.
2. Support roles such as messengers, spies or sexual slaves.
3. Used as human shields or in propaganda.

Throughout history child slaves and soldiers have been used in many countries and cultures. Since the 1970's there have been many new campaigns to try and stop child soldiers being used, of course the use of child soldiers has not stopped completely but the numbers have gone down at a large rate.  But there is still many places where child soldiers are still used today and it's time try and help put a stop to that...

Children are often forced to become soldiers and to fight in war and are treated with no respect. The places in which child soldiers are used are often very poor and can not afford to pay adults to be soldiers, so they decide they can make a lot of money out of using child soldiers because you don't have to pay them. Most of girl child soldiers used are exposed to sexual use and harm.

Here some quick facts about child soldiers

• It is said that 250,000 Child soldiers are used all over the world today.
• And that 7,000 of those children are used in Congo alone.
• A lot of child soldiers actually chose to become child soldiers and are not forced to.
• Kids as young as 12 fight in civil wars in about 28 different countries.
• Some children are forced to kill their families and friends.
• Many countries such as Iraq, Iran, Congo, Colombia, Afghanistan, Chad, Uganda, India and Peru use child soldiers.
• Some children lose everything when a war brakes out and are forced to leave their homes and everything behind.
• And  a lot of these wont be able to go back to the life they led before the war.
• Child soldiers are used critically in Africa because many countries in Africa are very poor and can't afford many adult soldiers.
• Most child soldiers are between 14- 18. But if the country can't get  many then younger children are used.
• It is not just boys that are involved in wars girls are also very much involved as well.